Bank of New York Mellon Corp Boosts Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,710,449 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,559 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.33% of Franklin Resources worth $32,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 43,687 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,789 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 47,544 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 18,124 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.83.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $24.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.68 and a 200-day moving average of $20.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.45. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $25.36.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 4.65%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 188.24%.

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.