BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Raises Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 157.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,821 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 22,500 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 708,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $21,093,000 after buying an additional 147,497 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,547,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 148.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 38,919 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 220.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 59,616 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 41,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BEN stock traded up $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $22.22. The stock had a trading volume of 546,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,658,680. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.57 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.04 and its 200-day moving average is $25.79.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 70.86%.

About Franklin Resources

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.