Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 2,530 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,460 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 975.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,111 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on BEN shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.8 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $23.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.47 and a 200-day moving average of $26.33. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 70.86%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.