Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 478,444 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,566.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 508,981 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 478,444 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $12,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Franklin Resources by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,526 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $60,618,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 275.7% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 31,688 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 23,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 177.1% during the second quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $23.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 5.98%.The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $23.91.

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.