TD Cowen Lowers Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $23.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective decreased by TD Cowen from $25.50 to $23.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.15.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $22.45 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin Resources has a 12-month low of $21.57 and a 12-month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were acquired 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 owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEN. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 708,050 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $21,093,000 after buying an additional 147,497 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,547,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 148.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,100 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after buying an additional 38,919 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 220.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 59,616 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 41,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.