16,130 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Acquired by Hardy Reed LLC

Hardy Reed LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,130 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $259,988,000 after buying an additional 816,952 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 768,707 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $192,774,000 after acquiring an additional 272,335 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $169,217,000 after acquiring an additional 243,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.0%

BEN stock opened at $33.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 89.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

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.