Ieq Capital LLC Buys New Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 153,808 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 277.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $34.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.74. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

About Franklin Resources

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.