BlackRock Inc. Takes $961.85 Million Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 28.9 million Franklin Resources shares worth approximately $961.85 million, giving it a 5.69% stake in the company. Institutional investors collectively own 47.56% of BEN.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $32.44; individual targets range from $35 to $40, while Evercore maintains an underperform rating.
• Franklin Resources beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.72 EPS versus $0.66 expected and $2.36 billion in revenue, up 14.3% year over year. Shares opened at $34.32, near their 52-week high of $36.28.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 28,910,284 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $961,845,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 5.69% of Franklin Resources at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,882,860 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $259,988,000 after purchasing an additional 816,952 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,122,937 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $241,837,000 after acquiring an additional 768,707 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $192,774,000 after acquiring an additional 272,335 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $169,217,000 after acquiring an additional 243,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,554,105 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore restated an "underperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $34.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.55. The company's fifty day moving average is $33.51 and its 200 day moving average is $29.72. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

About Franklin Resources

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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