Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 44.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.57% of Franklin Resources worth $60,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 17.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BEN opened at $22.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.