Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Receives $23.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

BEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson purchased 18,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 18,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,055. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 12,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,637,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,857,182. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 in the last ninety days. 24.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.1% during the second quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 51,788 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,157,000 after buying an additional 4,732 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 20,591 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 6,557 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,841 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 12.3% during the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,876 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062 shares during the period. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $20.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.39. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

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.