Insider Buying: Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Major Shareholder Acquires 100,000 Shares of Stock

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock opened at $19.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.72. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

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.