Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Stock Holdings Lifted by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 42.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 103,169 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,520 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $53,676,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 173.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $71,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,500 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,971 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $190,805,000 after buying an additional 1,542,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.9%

BEN stock opened at $22.38 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $24.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources 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.