Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 42,172 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 368.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,633 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the second quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 257.8% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $27.03 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $28.32. The company has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.