Lbp Am Sa Makes New $692,000 Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Lbp Am Sa bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 28,976 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth about $1,328,000. United Community Bank raised its position in Franklin Resources by 172.1% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 34,069 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 21,547 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth about $522,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 34,715.9% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 89,825 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 89,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth about $840,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore set a $27.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $27.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.17 and a 12 month high of $28.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

About Franklin Resources

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.