Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Raises Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 239.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,268 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 24,883 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at $880,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $7,681,000 after acquiring an additional 32,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 27,259 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,091,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,507,344. The company has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.82. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 196.93%.

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.