Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Holdings Raised by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 223.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,403 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 143,914 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $6,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $152,692,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $45,904,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $41,068,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (up from $37.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.78.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 6.5%

NYSE:BEN opened at $35.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $36.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.56.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 6th. The closed-end fund reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 3.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a global investment management company that operates under the Franklin Templeton name. It offers investment products and services to individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and other clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts.

The company invests across a range of asset classes and strategies, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments. Its services also include retirement solutions and wealth management.

Founded in 1947, Franklin Resources has grown through acquisitions, including its 2020 acquisition of Legg Mason.