Analysts Set Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) PT at $23.91

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.0909.

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $23.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.70 and a 200-day moving average of $23.59. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $16.25 and a one year high of $26.08.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,985,065 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $230,713,000 after acquiring an additional 263,619 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $232,833,000 after purchasing an additional 553,184 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,677,417 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $206,956,000 after purchasing an additional 97,708 shares during the period. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 99.1% in the 1st quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 5,237,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $100,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $95,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company 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.