Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Invests $290,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,297 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $432,730,000 after acquiring an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after acquiring an additional 422,688 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,316,000 after acquiring an additional 709,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN stock opened at $20.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.83 and a 12-month high of $28.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.76.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 196.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BEN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Company 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.