Sei Investments Co. Purchases 54,865 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 215,439 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,865 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $5,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,049 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,850,000 after buying an additional 30,763 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 169.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,909 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 4,972 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 41.1% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,189 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 7,634 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 52.2% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 509,171 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $12,144,000 after acquiring an additional 174,579 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BEN. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.4%

BEN stock opened at $35.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $35.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.84 and a 200-day moving average of $28.99.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.80%.

Franklin Resources 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.