Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC Buys 1,496 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 10.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,128 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 15.6% in the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 13,584 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $101,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 110,394 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 315.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 540,465 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $10,890,000 after purchasing an additional 410,286 shares during the period. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,867 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 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 recently weighed in on BEN. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE BEN traded up $0.73 on Wednesday, reaching $21.68. 259,606 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,036,789. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.72%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 76.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.84 per share, with a total value of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.