Clare Market Investments LLC Invests $248,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,900 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 561.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BEN. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,949,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,483,920. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.28. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $24.37.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Franklin Resources's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is presently 188.24%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.