Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 148.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,919 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 68.3% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 120,968 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,604,000 after buying an additional 49,095 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,027 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 80,905 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 35,560 shares during the period. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 9,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 1,477 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $25.35 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.33. The company has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.88 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.