JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 263.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.39% of Franklin Resources worth $40,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $158,582,000 after purchasing an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $71,171,000 after acquiring an additional 54,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $19.99. 5,230,450 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,709,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $21.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.36. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $29.41.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BEN. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective 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 shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.50 to $22.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.73.

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.