Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 32,505 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management purchased 32,505 Franklin Resources shares worth approximately $1.08 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 47.56% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an overall “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $32.44, below the stock’s reported $34.70 opening price.
• Franklin Resources exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.72 per share versus estimates of $0.66 and revenue of $2.36 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing a 3.8% annualized yield.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 32,505 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BEN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,049 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $2,850,000 after acquiring an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 169.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,909 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 41.1% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,189 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 7,634 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Franklin Resources by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 509,171 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $12,144,000 after purchasing an additional 174,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $34.70 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $36.28. The company's fifty day moving average price is $33.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. Franklin Resources's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Franklin Resources's payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm's core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton's product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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