B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC Has $1.25 Million Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,254 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,454 shares during the quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Power Corp of Canada increased its position in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% in the 1st quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $887,071,000 after acquiring an additional 31,385,293 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,008,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592,943 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after buying an additional 851,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

BEN opened at $20.54 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.04%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Franklin Resources Profile

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.