Magnetar Financial LLC Buys Shares of 187,132 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 187,132 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $4,328,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.5% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 12,287 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,846 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 9,351 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $24.98 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.86. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $28.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.46.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Evercore increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.