New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 153,026 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $765,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $237,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,755 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $190,805,000 after buying an additional 1,542,478 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $130,645,000 after buying an additional 1,599,849 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $121,797,000 after buying an additional 460,270 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE BEN traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.82. 3,633,760 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,686,025. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $13.04 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.45. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $25.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is currently 188.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.92.

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.