B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC Buys 5,454 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 9.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,254 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 5,454 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Power Corp of Canada increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the 1st quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $887,071,000 after purchasing an additional 31,385,293 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,008,853,000 after buying an additional 3,592,943 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 250.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,190 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,587 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 517.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,406,324 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,594 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 110.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,623,236 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,279,000 after acquiring an additional 851,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $20.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.54. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.60% and a net margin of 10.24%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Franklin Resources news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson bought 18,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.95 per share, with a total value of $395,955.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 216,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,055. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 231,600 shares of company stock worth $4,537,637. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Franklin Resources

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.