Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Purchased by ORG Wealth Partners LLC

ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 59.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,047 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 3,747 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BEN. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $880,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,490 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 27,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. This represents a 17.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375 in the last ninety days. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.73.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $19.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,050,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,180,479. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.94 and a 52 week high of $29.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.30.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.84%.

Franklin Resources 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.