9,430 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Acquired by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,430 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 245.1% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,379 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 79.8% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,802 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,687 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.27 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.31 and a 200 day moving average of $22.72. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $26.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.08.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.