Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 8,645 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 267% compared to the typical volume of 2,357 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BEN shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $20.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.97%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 12,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at $51,857,182. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Power Corp of Canada grew its position in 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 position in Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the 4th 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 position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,547,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.