Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 1.9%, acquiring an additional 58,428 shares to own a total of 3,156,407 shares valued at around $60.76 million.
• Franklin Resources reported earnings of $0.49 per share, surpassing estimates, but its revenue fell 2.2% year-over-year, totaling $2.06 billion, which was lower than anticipated.
• Analysts have varied perspectives on the stock, with recent upgrades from firms like TD Cowen and Goldman Sachs, while some maintain a hold or sell rating, resulting in an average rating of "Hold."

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,156,407 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 58,428 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.60% of Franklin Resources worth $60,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN traded down $0.2240 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.8360. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,081,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,520,527. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's 50 day moving average is $24.22 and its 200-day moving average is $21.45.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 250.98%.

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.