Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target Cut to $24.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective dropped by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.40% from the stock’s previous close.

BEN has been the topic of several other reports. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.3 %

BEN opened at $22.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.40. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.88 and a one year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.35.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 11.04%. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,547,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,750,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $43,034,000 after buying an additional 1,015,225 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,322.5% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,984 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after buying an additional 833,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,684,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.