Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target Raised to $31.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on BEN. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.56.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $29.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,782,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,376,879. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.68. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $18.80 and a one year high of $30.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market cap of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.56.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.