Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Acquired by Modern Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Modern Wealth Management LLC has increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 58.1%, now owning 245,708 shares valued at approximately $4.73 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $23.58.
• Franklin Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 5.2%.

Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 58.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 245,708 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 90,277 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $4,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 39.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded up $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $24.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,445,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,397,564. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.13. 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 company has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 47.68, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.51. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $26.08.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 250.98%.

About Franklin Resources

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.