Morgan Stanley Raises Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target to $25.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BEN. StockNews.com cut shares of Franklin Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.5 %

Franklin Resources stock opened at $25.15 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.28. Franklin Resources has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043,808 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth about $55,460,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,547,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 937.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,576,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,200 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 202.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,126,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,044 shares in the last quarter. 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.