Abel Hall LLC Boosts Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Abel Hall LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,763 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 5,605 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $519,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 79.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,802 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 245.1% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,379 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.25.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $23.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.51. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 3.73%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.98%.

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.