Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 477,373 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $15,882,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $34.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.69 and a 200 day moving average of $29.99. The company has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BEN. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.44.

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.