Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $108.29 Million Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,584,695 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 847,645 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.88% of Franklin Resources worth $108,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,168,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697,743 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP grew its position in Franklin Resources by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 5,796,575 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $138,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,554,105 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $51,384,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $95,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BEN. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $32.22 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.43 and its 200-day moving average is $28.34. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $34.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Franklin Resources 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.