Gotham Asset Management LLC Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,487 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 1,611 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,676,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449,210 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 336.0% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 786,722 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $15,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,022 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $765,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.18 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $24.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.24.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.