CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $11.40 Million Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 18.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 405,126 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,546 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $11,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Tobam boosted its position in Franklin Resources by 2,170.0% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 1,135 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Three 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.15.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $23.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.33. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.57 and a 52-week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

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.