Fieldview Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Fieldview Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,135 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BEN. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 177.1% during the 2nd quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BEN. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $25.22 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $28.32. The firm has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 122.22%.

About Franklin Resources

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.