Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires New Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 21,499 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $436,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $765,254,000 after buying an additional 1,095,373 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $237,828,000 after buying an additional 1,011,755 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $121,797,000 after purchasing an additional 460,270 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $75,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449,210 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4%

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,287,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,364,037. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $24.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.95%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is presently 188.24%.

About Franklin Resources

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.