Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 106,129 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 981,103 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 106,129 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.20% of Franklin Resources worth $24,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,974 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 25,350 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 22,250 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Joule Financial LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 10,730 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the period. 46.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.05.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.1 %

BEN stock opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.10. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $14.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.