Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 5,697 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) by 19.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,697 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $754,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 413.2% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,242 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 31.8% during the second quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,447 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, NuWave Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $41,000. 45.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 18th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.18.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $30.04 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.24 and a 52-week high of $33.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 29th. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc bought 71,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.26 per share, for a total transaction of $302,460.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 9,538,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,633,060.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 341,388 shares of company stock worth $1,444,953. Insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

(Get Rating)

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.