RWA Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 7,051 Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,051 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,750,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $43,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,225 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $14,684,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $161,338,000 after purchasing an additional 415,512 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,188,199 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $35,396,000 after purchasing an additional 414,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 383.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 502,840 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $12,360,000 after purchasing an additional 398,745 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $24.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.88 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.33. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

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.