Nomura Holdings Inc. Grows Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 104.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,245 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after buying an additional 4,043,808 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $91,398,000 after purchasing an additional 154,850 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 7.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $75,061,000 after purchasing an additional 202,288 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $55,956,000 after purchasing an additional 37,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,547,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $22.83 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.25. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.57 and a 52-week high of $30.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

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

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.