Hardy Reed LLC Has $339,000 Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 561.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on BEN shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.2 %

BEN opened at $20.90 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.83 and a twelve month high of $28.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.76. The stock has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 196.93%.

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.