Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by Kwmg LLC

Kwmg LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,422 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,507 shares during the period. Kwmg LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $4,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,460,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 197.0% during the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,598,687 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $70,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,802 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 937.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,576,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,200 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 202.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $951,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,583 shares during the last quarter. 46.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BEN traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.25. 3,211,496 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,332,585. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.24 and a 1 year high of $34.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.25.

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.