Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Buys New Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 27,443 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 179.2% in the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.58. 778,223 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,738,861. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $36.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.18 and its 200 day moving average is $31.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.