Franklin Resources Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors bought 40,631 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 3,179% compared to the average volume of 1,239 call options.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the second quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 129.1% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE BEN traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $24.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,246,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,401,222. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.77. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $12.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.47.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 140.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BEN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.09.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.