21,048 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Acquired by Crumly & Associates Inc.

Crumly & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 21,048 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $676,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 209.5% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,201 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,059 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 0.3% in the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,825 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $304,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,585,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,777,143. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton brand, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement-plan participants through a range of actively managed and specialized strategies.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investment strategies. Franklin Templeton offers capabilities spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset investing, private markets and other specialized areas, with investment teams and brands serving different market segments and regions.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.