Nomura Holdings Inc. Purchases 72,755 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. by 138.0% during Q1, owning 125,480 shares valued at approximately $2.4 million.
• The company reported earnings of $0.49 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates but showing a revenue decline of 2.2% year-over-year.
• Franklin Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, reflecting a 5.0% dividend yield and a significantly high payout ratio.

Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 138.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,480 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 72,755 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $333,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $845,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 96,252 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 27,316 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 44,834 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 8,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 151,108 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. Three 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of BEN stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.96. The company had a trading volume of 4,708,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,957,070. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $26.08. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.91. The company has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors 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 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 250.98%.

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.