Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New $118,000 Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,838 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $118,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,751,587 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,594 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after purchasing an additional 851,442 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 325.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 906,270 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $20,255,000 after purchasing an additional 693,074 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.66.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $19.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.55. The stock has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its 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 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the business’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 value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.