32,505 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 32,505 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $6,254,000. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,418,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,742,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,580,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 23.8% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 335,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,919,000 after acquiring an additional 64,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of BEN stock opened at $34.70 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

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.