Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.9%

BEN opened at $32.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.49. Franklin Resources has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $32.47. The company has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 37.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,964,424 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $46,400,000 after purchasing an additional 533,192 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $787,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 23.8% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 335,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,919,000 after purchasing an additional 64,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 15.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 886,393 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $20,937,000 after purchasing an additional 117,800 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.