Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

BEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after buying an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. Power Corp of Canada boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the 1st quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after purchasing an additional 31,385,293 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $793,983,000 after buying an additional 4,043,808 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $91,398,000 after buying an additional 154,850 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $55,956,000 after acquiring an additional 37,474 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.04. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.57 and a one year high of $30.32.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.53%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 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.