Millennium Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources, acquiring an additional 50,434 shares, bringing its ownership to 1,685,121 shares, valued at approximately $32.4 million.
• Franklin Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32, which represents a yield of 5.3%, and is set to be paid out on October 10th.
• The company's latest earnings report indicated a EPS of $0.49 and revenue of $2.06 billion, with an anticipated EPS of $2.16 for the current year.

Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,685,121 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after acquiring an additional 50,434 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Franklin Resources worth $32,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.26. 1,880,021 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,389,361. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.11. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.57, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.51.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented 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 target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $23.58.

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.