Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Newly Purchased by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 111,526 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $3,582,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $35,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group started coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.78.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $36.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.79.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The closed-end fund reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.42% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management company that operates under the Franklin Templeton name. It offers investment products and services to individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and other clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts. The company invests across a range of asset classes and strategies, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments. Its services also include retirement solutions and wealth management.