Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Boosts Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,961 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 1,140 shares during the quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $7,681,000 after buying an additional 32,490 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.9% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 100,834 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,032,000 after buying an additional 6,524 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 14.2% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 21,675 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 806,901 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 11,371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $19.24 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.92%.

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.