ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 243,836 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 1.36% of Franklin Resources worth $169,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 257.8% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $31.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.32. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.06 and a 12-month high of $32.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.56.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.56.

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.