Czech National Bank Purchases 5,715 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,858 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,715 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,055. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $20.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.57 and its 200-day moving average is $22.70.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

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.