Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires Shares of 1,158,237 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital acquired 1,158,237 Franklin Resources shares worth approximately $27.4 million, while institutional investors collectively own 47.56% of the company.
• Analysts remain mixed, with Franklin Resources holding a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $32.00; individual targets range from $31 to $35.
• Franklin Resources recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.71 EPS and $1.75 billion in revenue, up 8.7% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, yielding about 4.1%.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,158,237 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $27,358,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.22% of Franklin Resources as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $98,703,000 after buying an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $138,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,105 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,384,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,737,050 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $89,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078,369 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BEN. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $32.45 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $34.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.

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