Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $11.47 Million in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 565,508 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $11,474,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $880,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at $1,857,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 78.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 27,259 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 159,738 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 27,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.50 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BEN opened at $20.00 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.56. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 4.32%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 196.92%.

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.