Joule Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Joule Financial LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,070 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth $710,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 147,497 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at about $1,538,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,547,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 583.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 199,225 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 170,089 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BEN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.90.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE BEN traded up $0.90 on Thursday, reaching $20.68. 8,883,648 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,844,367. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.51 and a 200 day moving average of $24.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.