Woodline Partners LP Invests $376,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,555 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. WBI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 103,169 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 30,520 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 173.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,531,700 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $71,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,500 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,935,292 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $59,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,971 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 294,530 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 6,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 162,446 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 11,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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 upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:BEN traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.64. 23,398,927 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,462,915. The business's 50-day moving average price is $19.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $24.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. 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%.

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.