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GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 142,302 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources logo with Finance background

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 1,882.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,861 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 142,302 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $765,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,373 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $237,828,000 after buying an additional 1,011,755 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $190,805,000 after buying an additional 1,542,478 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $130,645,000 after buying an additional 1,599,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $121,797,000 after buying an additional 460,270 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BEN. Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.

View Our Latest Report on BEN

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.62 on Monday, hitting $22.79. 3,731,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,484,528. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. 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 simple moving average of $20.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.27.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is currently 188.24%.

About Franklin Resources

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)

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