Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Purchased by SVB Wealth LLC

SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 126,848 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,695 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $98,703,000 after buying an additional 2,697,743 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.8% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after buying an additional 2,554,105 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,384,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,737,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $89,278,000 after buying an additional 2,078,369 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays set a $31.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 2.6%

Franklin Resources stock opened at $33.92 on Tuesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $34.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.97.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.