Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Stock: Keybank National Association OH Boosts Stake

Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 84.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,346 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,925 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 100.8% in the third quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,017 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $270,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 87.1% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 153,323 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,384,000 after acquiring an additional 71,378 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 71,178 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,377,000 after acquiring an additional 26,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 1,321.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 915,610 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $29,409,000 after purchasing an additional 851,203 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.78.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.99. The company had a trading volume of 3,794,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,968,428. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $36.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.64.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The closed-end fund reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.42% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, CFO Matthew Nicholls sold 160,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.20, for a total value of $5,792,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 774,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,031,397.60. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 23.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management company that operates under the Franklin Templeton name. It offers investment products and services to individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and other clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts. The company invests across a range of asset classes and strategies, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments. Its services also include retirement solutions and wealth management.