Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Stock Acquired by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors increased its Franklin Resources stake by 138.5% in the third quarter, adding 44,269 shares for a total holding of 76,242 shares valued at approximately $2.63 million. Institutional investors collectively own 47.56% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly neutral on Franklin Resources, with four Buy, six Hold and one Sell rating; the average price target is $36.11 versus the stock’s reported $31.77 price.
• Franklin Resources exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.72 in earnings per share and $2.36 billion in revenue, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, equivalent to a 4.2% annualized yield.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 138.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,242 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 44,269 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $152,692,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $98,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $83,204,000 after purchasing an additional 153,422 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Evercore restated an "underperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.11.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $31.77 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. The company has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.80%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton brand, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement-plan participants through a range of actively managed and specialized strategies.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investment strategies. Franklin Templeton offers capabilities spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset investing, private markets and other specialized areas, with investment teams and brands serving different market segments and regions.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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