Wells Fargo & Company Initiates Coverage on Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $20.00 price target on the closed-end fund’s stock.

BEN has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an underweight rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an underperform rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.2 %

BEN stock opened at $19.90 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.70. Franklin Resources has a twelve month low of $18.94 and a twelve month high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.95 per share, for a total transaction of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 18,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 431,600 shares of company stock worth $9,097,637 over the last three months. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Power Corp of Canada raised its holdings 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 worth $887,071,000 after purchasing an additional 31,385,293 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after buying an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 11.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after buying an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,547,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.