Stephens Inc. AR Increases Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,646 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,973 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $710,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $1,538,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 583.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 199,225 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 170,089 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in Franklin Resources by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 278,268 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $7,758,000 after purchasing an additional 88,700 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 102,385 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $21.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.95. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.82%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 144.19%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,055. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

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.