ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 243,836 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $169,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 121,116 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 4,669 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $12,079,000. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 7,213 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 128.7% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 6,828 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 3,843 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.56.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:BEN opened at $31.97 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.32. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.06 and a one year high of $32.44. The stock has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.