Mutual Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 9,787 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,787 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,802 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 245.1% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,379 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $26.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.50.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 250.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $23.83.

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.