Azora Capital LP Has $138.48 Million Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Azora Capital LP increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 78.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,554,105 shares during the period. Franklin Resources accounts for approximately 8.7% of Azora Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Azora Capital LP’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $138,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 214,576 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $4,963,000 after buying an additional 71,384 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 135.8% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 860,762 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $19,909,000 after buying an additional 495,747 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 234.0% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 99,631 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after buying an additional 69,802 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 35.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,101,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $48,596,000 after buying an additional 554,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $232,833,000 after buying an additional 553,184 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $33.26 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $34.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.75.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 100.76%.

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.