Morgan Stanley Increases Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $25.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.08% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $25.02 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $951,307,000 after buying an additional 1,390,583 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after buying an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $161,338,000 after buying an additional 415,512 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,833,431 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $134,950,000 after buying an additional 345,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,052,116 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $106,895,000 after buying an additional 291,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% 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.