Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,379,739 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $45,904,000. Franklin Resources accounts for 1.5% of Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 56,151 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its position in Franklin Resources by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 1,512 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 67,747 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $35.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.84. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources 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.