10,548 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Bought by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,548 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,544 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 18,124 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upgraded 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.83.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,107,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,522,682. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.45. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $25.36.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 4.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.