Modern Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 343,771 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,063 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Franklin Resources worth $8,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 177.1% during the second quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,777 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 245.1% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,379 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 51.9% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,938 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $23.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.47. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $26.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.58.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $24.09.

About Franklin Resources

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.