Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $1.65 Million in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 49,507 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target 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 issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $34.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.79. The firm has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. 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 (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources 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.