Commerce Bank Acquires Shares of 111,734 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 111,734 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $3,717,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $6,254,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at $1,580,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $37,742,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $1,336,000. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $941,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.9%

BEN stock opened at $34.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.79. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. The company has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on BEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources 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.