Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Stock Holdings Boosted by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 343,064 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 27,621 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Franklin Resources worth $11,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. United Community Bank increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.9% in the second quarter. United Community Bank now owns 37,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 3.7% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 0.3% in the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,825 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.0% during the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,194 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 12.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,671 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $31.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.04 and its 200-day moving average is $31.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. The company has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.