Bank of New York Mellon Corp Takes $152.69 Million Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,589,483 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $152,692,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.90% of Franklin Resources at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Norges Bank bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP raised its position 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 worth $138,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,105 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,384,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $95,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $34.32 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.74.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources 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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