Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Makes New $3.02 Million Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 148,842 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 350.4% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Cowen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.8%

BEN stock opened at $22.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.24. 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 current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

About Franklin Resources

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.