Fire Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 172,333 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,000. Franklin Resources comprises about 2.6% of Fire Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $21.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $24.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 188.24%.

Franklin Resources 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.