Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Given New $21.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective decreased by UBS Group from $24.00 to $21.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Five 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, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.43.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $20.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.29. Franklin Resources has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,890,529.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,984,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,208,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,890,529.28. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637 and sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.3% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 322,860 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $6,506,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 18.1% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,426 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,976 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.5% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 34,997 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 2,430 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 27.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 72,275 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 15,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 46.0% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 151,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 47,600 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.