Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $15.83 Million Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 66.6%, now holding 822,244 shares valued at approximately $15.8 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Evergreen Quality Fund and Two Sigma Advisers, significantly boosted their stakes in Franklin Resources during the recent quarters.
• Franklin Resources declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, with a 5.1% dividend yield, set to be paid on October 10th.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 66.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 822,244 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 328,800 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources accounts for approximately 0.6% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned 0.16% of Franklin Resources worth $15,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,245 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,544 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 25,972 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Zacks Research lowered Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.65. 3,033,881 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,447,716. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $26.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.32, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.51.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 250.98%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.