Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $677,000 Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 221.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,332 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 19,529 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $232,833,000 after buying an additional 553,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,495 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $192,774,000 after buying an additional 272,335 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,083,168 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $169,217,000 after buying an additional 243,836 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,118,686 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $95,265,000 after buying an additional 1,370,132 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its stake in Franklin Resources by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,242,470 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $74,998,000 after buying an additional 53,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BEN. Morgan Stanley raised Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays set a $31.00 target price on Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.56.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $31.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.86. The stock has a market cap of $16.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.06 and a 1 year high of $32.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

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.