Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Acquired by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,054.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,321 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,081 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 14,682 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,622 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 23,282 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BEN. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.9 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $23.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

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.