Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN – Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,624,537 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,964 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.31% of Franklin Resources worth $38,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Franklin Resources by 5.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $232,833,000 after acquiring an additional 553,184 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $192,774,000 after acquiring an additional 272,335 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $169,217,000 after acquiring an additional 243,836 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Franklin Resources by 49.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $95,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $98,168,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have commented on BEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.56.
Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.2%
BEN stock opened at $31.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.06 and a 52-week high of $32.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.55.
Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.
Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.76%.
Franklin Resources 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.
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