UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $43.26 Million Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300,135 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 161,527 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $43,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $152,692,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $98,168,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $33.53 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.17. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.54. 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 (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

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