Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives $20.66 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.66.

Several brokerages recently commented on BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $20.29 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.40. Franklin Resources has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $29.41. The company has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.31%. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,245.49. This trade represents a 17.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375 over the last quarter. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $147,312,000 after buying an additional 422,688 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $158,582,000 after acquiring an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after acquiring an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.