Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,589 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,605 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,095,390 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $158,582,000 after purchasing an additional 676,760 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,183,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $71,171,000 after buying an additional 54,063 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,213,663 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,605,000 after acquiring an additional 411,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $21.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.62. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.94 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.84%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 144.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,341.80. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375 in the last quarter. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

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.