Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 6,650 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,445 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 6,650 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Power Corp of Canada raised its position in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% in the first 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 boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592,943 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $49,547,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,322.5% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,984 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after buying an additional 833,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.60 and a 200-day moving average of $23.59. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was bought at an average cost of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 431,600 shares of company stock worth $9,097,637. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.