Brooklyn Investment Group Acquires Shares of 1,947 Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,947 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BEN. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375 over the last three months. 24.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.72. The stock has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38.

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

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.