GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires Shares of 3,992 Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,992 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $534,000. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 47.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,710 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 15,914 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 14.4% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 65,325 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 8,216 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.5% during the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 11,694 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 443,545 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $10,902,000 after purchasing an additional 6,867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $24.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.35. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.88 and a twelve month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BEN. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

About Franklin Resources

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.