Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 162,446 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,367 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $3,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $765,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $237,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,755 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $121,797,000 after purchasing an additional 460,270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $21.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $24.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.92%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 188.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Cowen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources 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.