Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Purchased by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,997 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 72,275 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,467,000 after buying an additional 15,688 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 151,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 47,600 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 51,632 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 16,283 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1,928.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 79,469 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 75,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BEN. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $21.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.19%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,245.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and have sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.