Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 20.3%, owning over 7.2 million shares worth approximately $139 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Franklin Resources reported earnings per share of $0.49 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.46, but its revenue decreased by 2.2% year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Franklin Resources, with recommendations ranging from Buy to Sell, and an average target price of about $23.58.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,223,369 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 1,220,419 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.37% of Franklin Resources worth $139,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 173.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $71,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241,500 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $59,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673,971 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $190,805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,478 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 336.0% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 786,722 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $15,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,015,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,987,273. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.63. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a PE ratio of 49.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. 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 current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

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.