Forum Financial Management LP Invests $332,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,904 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 84,362 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 16,950 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 27,033 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 111,625 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 57,595 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $799,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $23.83.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $22.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.78, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.91.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The closed-end fund reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 250.98%.

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.