Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 83,434 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $2,776,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $152,692,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $98,168,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 3.2%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $34.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $36.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.20.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid 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 yield of 3.8%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

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.