Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 1,095,373 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Franklin Resources worth $765,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 263.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449,210 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,316,000 after purchasing an additional 709,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,517,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,792,000 after buying an additional 658,977 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $19.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.83 and a 1-year high of $28.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.57.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 196.92%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.