Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 7,097 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 736% compared to the average volume of 849 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $161,338,000 after buying an additional 415,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $91,398,000 after acquiring an additional 154,850 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,061,000 after acquiring an additional 202,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $55,956,000 after purchasing an additional 37,474 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $24.14 on Friday. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.35.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.