Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 31,856 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 73.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,016 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,856 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,328,000. United Community Bank increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 172.1% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 34,069 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 21,547 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $522,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 34,715.9% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 89,825 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 89,567 shares during the period. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $840,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $27.27 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.46. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.62 and a fifty-two week high of $28.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.86.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 122.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

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.