Atria Investments Inc Purchases New Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,785 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,923,399 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $59,316,000 after acquiring an additional 709,736 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after purchasing an additional 599,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 76.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,290,200 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $25,998,000 after purchasing an additional 560,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $19.87 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.83 and a 52 week high of $28.15. The company has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 196.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BEN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.86.

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.