Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Short Interest Update

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,820,000 shares, a growth of 14.8% from the July 15th total of 19,000,000 shares. Approximately 7.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of BEN traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.76. 3,197,662 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,696,125. Franklin Resources has a 1-year low of $20.92 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.43.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.90.

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.