Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 182,300 Shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) by 962.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 201,238 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 182,300 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Hasbro were worth $11,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Hasbro by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Hasbro during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hasbro by 225.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hasbro by 1,150.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Hasbro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Hasbro from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $88.00) on shares of Hasbro in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Hasbro from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Hasbro from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hasbro currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.22.

Hasbro Price Performance

Shares of HAS stock opened at $50.71 on Wednesday. Hasbro, Inc. has a twelve month low of $50.40 and a twelve month high of $73.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.78.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Hasbro had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 47.93%. On average, analysts predict that Hasbro, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Hasbro’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

Hasbro Profile

Hasbro, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a toy and game company in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Australia, China, and Hong Kong. The company operates through Consumer Products; Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming; Entertainment; and Corporate and Other segments.