Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by Man Group plc

Man Group plc raised its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 183.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 296,517 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 191,860 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.06% of Franklin Resources worth $6,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 42,335 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 245.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 52,725 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 37,463 shares during the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Mork Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $982,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 117,286 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 26,079 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

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

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is 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.