Swiss National Bank Acquires New Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 552,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $13,168,000. Swiss National Bank owned 0.11% of Franklin Resources at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.9% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,139 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,777 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 245.1% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,379 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,938 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $22.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.79 and its 200 day moving average is $23.49. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $26.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.91.

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.