Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Stock: Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Position

Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 115.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,254 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 19,960 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $448,000. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 223.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 208,403 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $6,694,000 after acquiring an additional 143,914 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 98,770 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after acquiring an additional 61,964 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 84.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,577 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 9,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $32,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BEN. Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.78.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of BEN opened at $36.29 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.56. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $36.79.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The closed-end fund reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management company that operates under the Franklin Templeton name. It offers investment products and services to individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and other clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts. The company invests across a range of asset classes and strategies, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments. Its services also include retirement solutions and wealth management.