Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 7,732 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 851,654 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,732 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $16,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 350.4% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $14.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.21.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $24.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.80 and its 200 day moving average is $20.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $24.94.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The closed-end fund reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 9.13%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 188.24%.

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.