Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,799,515 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 83,706 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.19% of Franklin Resources worth $727,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $121,797,000 after purchasing an additional 460,270 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 173.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $71,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,086,345 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $62,622,000 after purchasing an additional 297,057 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.58.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,280,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,155,897. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $26.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.16 and a 200-day moving average of $21.42. The stock has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55.

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 firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is 250.98%.

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.