ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 1,542,478 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,403,875 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 1,542,478 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $190,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,095,373 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $237,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,755 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,438,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $130,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,849 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,002,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $121,797,000 after acquiring an additional 460,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $75,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,210 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.03 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $24.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on BEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.25.

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.