Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 32,490 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,490 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $7,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $27,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 254.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.66.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE BEN opened at $20.29 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $29.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.41. The company has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 148.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,020.11. The trade was a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375 in the last three months. 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.