Jones Financial Companies Lllp Has $60,000 Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 64.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 69,585 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,485 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $19.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.08 and a 200 day moving average of $20.57. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.15.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 196.92%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.