15,812 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Bought by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,812 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $32.48 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.58. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $34.92. The firm has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

About Franklin Resources

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.