Bastion Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 321,511 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 321,511 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $7,548,000. Franklin Resources comprises about 4.2% of Bastion Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,471 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 102,708 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,343 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 3.8%

NYSE:BEN opened at $30.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $15.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.56. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.06 and a 52 week high of $32.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.56.

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.