17,322 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Bought by Vident Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC acquired 17,322 shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. valued at approximately $333,000, as reported in their recent SEC filing.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, with a dividend yield of 5.1%, scheduled for payment on October 10th.
• Franklin Resources experienced a revenue decline of 2.2% year-over-year and reported EPS of $0.49, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 17,322 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BEN opened at $24.88 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $24.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. Franklin Resources's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Company 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.

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