Invesco Ltd. Buys 1,011,755 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,011,755 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $237,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $765,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,373 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 422,688 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $75,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449,210 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,097,979 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $62,858,000 after purchasing an additional 99,405 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,316,000 after purchasing an additional 709,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.63.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $17.89 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.60 and its 200-day moving average is $20.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 196.92%.

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.