Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 28,496 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,943 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,496 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $152,692,000. Kopernik Global Investors LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.6% during the first quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $83,204,000 after buying an additional 153,422 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 37.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,964,424 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $46,400,000 after buying an additional 533,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $31.49 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.09 and a 200 day moving average of $31.99. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $36.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share 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%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.