Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,143 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 29,472 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $880,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $7,681,000 after buying an additional 32,490 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 27,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 925,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.86.
Read Our Latest Report on BEN
Franklin Resources Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:BEN traded down $0.41 on Monday, reaching $19.84. 2,951,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,216,042. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business's 50-day moving average is $20.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.68. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.52, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.
Franklin Resources Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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