Focus Partners Wealth Grows Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 109.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,086 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 12,591 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 increased its stake 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.5% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 561.1% in 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 own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4%

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,287,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,356,545. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $24.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors 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 yield of 5.95%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 188.24%.

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.