Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $256.50 Million Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,860,325 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 22,535 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.09% of Franklin Resources worth $256,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $6,254,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth about $1,580,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at about $941,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 1,893.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 168,306 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $3,975,000 after acquiring an additional 159,862 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $32.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.46. The company has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $34.92.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.