Inceptionr LLC Purchases Shares of 23,155 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 23,155 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $32.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $34.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.