Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 42.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,169 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,520 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BEN. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.9%

BEN stock opened at $22.38 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.24. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $24.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources 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.