Morgan Stanley Trims Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Target Price to $19.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $21.00 to $19.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.73.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $20.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. The company has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.42 and a 200 day moving average of $22.37. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.04%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 70.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,245.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Power Corp of Canada increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the first quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after acquiring an additional 31,385,293 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,008,853,000 after buying an additional 3,592,943 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 110.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,279,000 after acquiring an additional 851,442 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.