Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC Grows Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,848 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after buying an additional 599,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after buying an additional 422,688 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $44,605,000 after purchasing an additional 411,931 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,148 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.7 %

BEN opened at $20.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.93. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.83 and a 52 week high of $28.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 196.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources 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.