Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 29,472 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,143 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 29,472 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BEN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,068 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 8.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1,928.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 79,469 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 75,552 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 46.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 51,632 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 16,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 27.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 72,275 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 15,688 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $19.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.70. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.93%.

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.