Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Posted by Francis Steltz on Aug 27th, 2026

Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

View Our Latest Report on Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of BEN opened at $35.06 on Tuesday. Franklin Resources has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $36.28. The company has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.90.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 89.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEN. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $961,845,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3,197.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,054,024 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $367,767,000 after purchasing an additional 10,718,763 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Franklin Resources by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $259,988,000 after purchasing an additional 816,952 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $241,837,000 after purchasing an additional 768,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $192,774,000 after buying an additional 272,335 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Franklin Resources

(Get Free Report)

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.