Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 29,470,000 shares, an increase of 6.2% from the September 15th total of 27,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days. Currently, 10.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,341.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,943 shares in the last quarter. Power Corp of Canada increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the first quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after purchasing an additional 31,385,293 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $158,582,000 after purchasing an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after purchasing an additional 54,063 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.6 %

BEN traded up $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $20.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,600,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,992,063. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.54. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.86%.

About Franklin Resources

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.