Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Acquired by Foundation Resource Management Inc.

Foundation Resource Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 563,835 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,964 shares during the period. Franklin Resources accounts for approximately 2.5% of Foundation Resource Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Foundation Resource Management Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Franklin Resources worth $15,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth $55,460,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake 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 period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 937.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,576,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,200 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 202.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,377,000 after buying an additional 1,424,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $951,307,000 after buying an additional 1,390,583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BEN stock traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $26.15. 465,352 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,309,920. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.24 and a 1-year high of $34.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 75.00%.

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.