Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,834 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 6,524 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BEN. Power Corp of Canada raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% in the first quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $887,071,000 after acquiring an additional 31,385,293 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 11.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,008,853,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after acquiring an additional 851,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $21.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The trade was a 0.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and have sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Resources Company 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.