Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 38,919 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 148.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 38,919 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $161,338,000 after purchasing an additional 415,512 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 7.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,061,000 after acquiring an additional 202,288 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,840,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $45,248,000 after acquiring an additional 14,896 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 138.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,750,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $43,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,396,000 after acquiring an additional 414,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

BEN opened at $25.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. 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 capitalization of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.96 and its 200 day moving average is $26.33.

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 company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on BEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.50.

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.