Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Bought by Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 155.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,151 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 71,207 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 32,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 11,432 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 15.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 102,089 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 13,578 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 12.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 847,679 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $16,318,000 after buying an additional 91,958 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $271,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 315,791 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $6,079,000 after buying an additional 23,970 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.91.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $21.45 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08. The company has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 140.66%.

Franklin Resources 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.