16,643 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Purchased by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 16,643 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,191,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $2,776,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $2,190,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $229,850,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $41,068,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $34.19 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $33.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.05. The company has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

About Franklin Resources

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.