Greenleaf Trust Makes New $243,000 Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,161 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 975.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,111 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BEN. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $25.35 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.33. The company has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.