Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Acquired by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,675 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at about $710,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth about $1,538,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 102,385 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 4,248 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 38.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 97,636 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,731,000 after acquiring an additional 27,193 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 50.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 32,904 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $21.64 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.77. The firm has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.73%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 144.19%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,055. This trade represents a 9.55 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

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.