Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 240.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,975 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after buying an additional 71,308 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,677 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 239.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 35,268 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 24,883 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,046 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 25,414 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 18,848 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 843,922 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $17,123,000 after buying an additional 37,021 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock traded up $0.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $21.87. 2,837,181 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,477,334. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $24.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $19.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.28. The firm has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 188.24%.

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.