Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New $1.54 Million Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 54,700 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,538,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Power Corp of Canada raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the 1st quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after purchasing an additional 31,385,293 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592,943 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,547,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,322.5% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,984 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after acquiring an additional 833,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE BEN traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,088,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,660,896. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.19. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.57 and a twelve month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 10.24%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 70.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BEN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.