Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 15,712 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 41.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 54,011 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,712 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 14,682 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,974 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 25,350 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Joule Financial LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 5.4% in the third quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 10,730 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.0% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,629 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

BEN stock opened at $24.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.88 and a twelve month high of $30.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BEN. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

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.