Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Position Increased by Matrix Trust Co

Matrix Trust Co raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 693.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,404 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 9,966 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 valued at $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 517.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,431,000 after buying an additional 1,178,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after buying an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after purchasing an additional 851,442 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This represents a 14.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of BEN stock opened at $19.08 on Monday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $29.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.25. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.41.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.73.

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.