GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 142,302 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,882.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 149,861 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 142,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 147.1% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 350.4% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.2%

BEN stock opened at $22.59 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $24.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.30.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 188.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.25.

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.