Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 3,400 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,951 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 102,385 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,320,000 after buying an additional 4,248 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $7,681,000 after acquiring an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 27,259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375 over the last quarter. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of BEN opened at $21.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.64. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The company has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.84%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 144.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

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.