LPL Financial LLC Purchases 371,562 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 24.5%, holding 1,889,160 shares worth approximately $36.37 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Franklin Resources reported $0.49 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, despite a 2.2% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32, which represents a 5.3% yield and a payout ratio of 188.24%.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,889,160 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 371,562 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.36% of Franklin Resources worth $36,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.4% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 145,311 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,797,000 after buying an additional 14,887 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $205,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 77.9% during the 1st quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. now owns 224,418 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 98,250 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 107,842 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 60,150 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 10,605 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,744,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,600,633. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $25.42. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $23.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.12. The company has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 49.48, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.46.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 250.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.42.

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.