Point72 Europe London LLP Buys New Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Point72 Europe London LLP acquired 175,900 shares of Franklin Resources, Inc., valued at approximately $3,386,000, during the first quarter.
• The company recently reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, but experienced a 2.2% decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• Franklin Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, with a yield of 5.0%, scheduled for payout on October 10th.

Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 175,900 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $3,386,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,985,065 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $230,713,000 after purchasing an additional 263,619 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Franklin Resources by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $139,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,419 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,392,081 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $65,298,000 after acquiring an additional 305,736 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.53. 2,685,236 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,097,856. The stock's 50-day moving average is $24.81 and its 200 day moving average is $21.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.05, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.51. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BEN shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

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.