Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Key Points

• Barclays has raised its target price for Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00, despite maintaining an "underweight" rating on the stock.
• Other firms like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have also adjusted their price targets, suggesting a mixed outlook with ratings ranging from "sell" to "buy."
• Franklin Resources reported earnings of $0.49 per share, beating expectations, but its revenue declined 2.2% year-over-year, indicating potential challenges ahead.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Barclays from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the closed-end fund's stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential downside of 8.49% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.42.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock traded up $1.19 on Monday, reaching $25.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,708,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,604,045. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.46. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $25.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.06.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 88,685 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 240.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 100,975 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $2,049,000 after buying an additional 71,308 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 910,234 shares of the closed-end fund's stock worth $18,469,000 after acquiring an additional 12,940 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $436,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Franklin Resources

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.

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