Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 29,437 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $607,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $59,316,000 after purchasing an additional 709,736 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,474,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on BEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.86.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Franklin Resources
Franklin Resources Stock Performance
NYSE:BEN traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.56. The stock had a trading volume of 3,424,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,255,947. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.83 and a 1-year high of $28.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $20.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.57.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 196.92%.
About Franklin Resources
(
Free Report)
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.
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