Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Raised to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) was upgraded by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $22.00 target price on the closed-end fund’s stock, up from their previous target price of $21.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.22% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BEN. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.50 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.73.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE BEN opened at $19.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.32. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $29.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 17.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,148 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 67,444 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $118,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.