Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Purchased by ORG Wealth Partners LLC

ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 59.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,047 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,747 shares during the quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after acquiring an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $158,582,000 after purchasing an additional 676,760 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.12. 2,050,040 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,180,479. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.30. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.94 and a 1-year high of $29.13.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.73.

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.