Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Cuts Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $19.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective cut by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $20.00 to $19.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

BEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 3.9 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $20.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.96. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.38. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.92%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.07%.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 12,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $249,682.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at $51,857,182. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 18,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $249,682.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,857,182. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 231,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares valued at $1,051,375. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. 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 acquiring an additional 31,385,293 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after buying an additional 3,592,943 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after buying an additional 1,178,594 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after buying an additional 851,442 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.