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

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 200.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,738 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 197,308 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Franklin Resources worth $5,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $31,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,594 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $36,279,000 after purchasing an additional 851,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 325.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 906,270 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $20,255,000 after purchasing an additional 693,074 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.39.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.38. The company had a trading volume of 3,091,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,016,320. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $21.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Franklin Resources's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.84%.

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.