Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Makes New $881,000 Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC purchased 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 SEC. The firm purchased 27,443 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 156.5% during the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 32,534 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 19,849 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $231,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 106.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 223,941 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,193,000 after buying an additional 115,360 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 246.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 556,928 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $19,665,000 after acquiring an additional 396,310 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $348,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.58. The stock had a trading volume of 778,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,738,861. The firm has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $36.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.18 and a 200 day moving average of $31.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.