Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $2.41 Million Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,883 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 20,200 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.8% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,105 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,384,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,737,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $89,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078,369 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $33.18 on Tuesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $34.92. The stock has a market cap of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.49 and its 200-day moving average is $28.63.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.