Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 20,124 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,545 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,124 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $4,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 20,968 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 25,972 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 9,351 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 11,910 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $16.25 and a one year high of $26.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.91.

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.