Prudential PLC Invests $436,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 21,477 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $436,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 27.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,678 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,468 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 200.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 295,738 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 197,308 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 39.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 46,836 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 13,175 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,667 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 12,336 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.50 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.63.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.7 %

BEN stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.20. 382,848 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,343,667. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $25.84. The stock's fifty day moving average is $19.60 and its 200-day moving average is $20.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 196.92%.

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.