SVB Wealth LLC Has $328,000 Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

SVB Wealth LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,019 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,072,606 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $951,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,583 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,693,626 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $242,726,000 after acquiring an additional 80,446 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $161,338,000 after acquiring an additional 415,512 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,833,431 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $134,950,000 after acquiring an additional 345,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,052,116 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $106,895,000 after buying an additional 291,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $25.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.88 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

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.