iA Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 22,565 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 22,565 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the 2nd quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 5,180.0% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 2,112 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BEN. Bank of America raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.64.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $25.33 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $26.25.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 30th. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 145.05%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.