Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Invests $290,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,297 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $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 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during 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. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $59,316,000 after purchasing an additional 709,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BEN traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,273,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,319,188. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $28.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.76. The firm has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 196.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Company 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.