VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 42,600 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 42,600 shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.42 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 47.56% of BEN.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $33.00 price target. Recent targets range from $34 to $40, while TD Cowen is the only firm cited assigning a “Buy” rating.
• Franklin Resources exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.72 EPS versus $0.66 expected and $2.36 billion in revenue. The company also declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend, equal to a 3.9% annualized yield.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 42,600 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $1,417,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BEN. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $33.69 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $33.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $36.28. The firm has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.80%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement plans through a broad range of strategies and investment vehicles.

Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton manages strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and other specialized areas, while also providing investment research, portfolio management and wealth-management services.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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