Verity Asset Management Inc. Purchases 2,605 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,656 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,605 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $432,730,000 after acquiring an additional 599,045 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after purchasing an additional 422,688 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 22.9% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,213,663 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $44,605,000 after purchasing an additional 411,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 worth $40,744,000 after buying an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $20.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.86 and a 200-day moving average of $20.97. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.83 and a 12 month high of $28.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.42.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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 9.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 196.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.86.

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.