Neo Ivy Capital Management Buys 24,130 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Neo Ivy Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 129.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,746 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 24,130 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 6.1% in 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 buying an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $158,582,000 after buying an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $71,171,000 after buying an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total transaction of $369,923.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN traded down $0.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $22.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,403,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,026,943. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.21 and a 200-day moving average of $21.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Franklin Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

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.