Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $20.02 Million Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc acquired 601,803 shares of Franklin Resources worth approximately $20.02 million, representing a 0.12% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 47.56% of the company.
• Franklin Resources exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.72 in EPS versus the $0.66 consensus and $2.36 billion in revenue, up 14.3% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, equivalent to a 3.8% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $32.44 price target, below the reported $34.70 share price.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 601,803 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $20,022,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.12% of Franklin Resources as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $34.70 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $36.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.99.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BEN shares. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Evercore reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm's core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton's product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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