Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 160.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,300 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,742 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $880,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,857,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 62,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 27,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BEN shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $19.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $28.61.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 196.93%.

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.