Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Raises Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 50.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 460,768 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $12,952,000 after buying an additional 34,980 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in Franklin Resources by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 46,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 24,409 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 103,617 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $885,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 24.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $22.35 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.14. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.57 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

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.