ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 1,542,478 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund's stock after purchasing an additional 1,542,478 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 1.79% of Franklin Resources worth $190,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 269.4% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 97,001 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 70,739 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. Man Group plc grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 183.3% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 296,517 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $6,016,000 after buying an additional 191,860 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 42,335 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 245.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 52,725 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 37,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. TD Cowen raised Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.25.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.9%

BEN stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.38. The company had a trading volume of 5,059,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,349,989. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.24. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $24.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm 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 company posted $0.56 EPS. Franklin Resources's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources 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.