Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,046 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,414 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 239.6% in the fourth 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. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 622,215 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $12,625,000 after purchasing an additional 21,592 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,656 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,605 shares during the period. Dupree Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,713,000. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 58,020 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 26,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.87.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 196.93%.

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.