35,869 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Bought by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 35,869 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BEN. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $34.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

About Franklin Resources

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.