Avior Wealth Management LLC Invests $121,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,018 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $121,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Interval Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 108,894 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in 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 worth $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 88,195 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,149 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.1 %

BEN opened at $21.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.75. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 144.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $249,682.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The trade was a 0.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 17.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 212,700 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,682 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Franklin Resources

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.