Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes $360,000 Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 17,888 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 254.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Franklin Resources news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BEN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $22.60 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The company has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

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.