RFG Advisory LLC Purchases Shares of 9,430 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,430 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,245 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 20,968 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 25,972 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $24.08.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:BEN opened at $22.27 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.72. The company has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 43.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

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.