Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Purchased by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,331.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,768 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 22,108 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $76,051,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $60,618,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $51,384,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $32,293,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1,109.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 775,490 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $17,937,000 after purchasing an additional 711,347 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BEN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $27.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.25 and a 52 week high of $28.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 122.22%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.