Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Purchases New Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 47,915 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 104.1% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 18,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 9,245 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $974,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $22.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.25. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.57 and a one year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

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.