Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Buys New Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 148,842 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $3,020,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $765,254,000 after buying an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $237,828,000 after buying an additional 1,011,755 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $190,805,000 after buying an additional 1,542,478 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $121,797,000 after purchasing an additional 460,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.7%

Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,398,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,462,915. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $19.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.28. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $24.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.29, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.91%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 188.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Company 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.