New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New $4.84 Million Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 238,485 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $4,839,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $765,254,000 after buying an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,155,516 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $432,730,000 after acquiring an additional 599,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,334,601 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $147,312,000 after acquiring an additional 422,688 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $75,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,097,979 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $62,858,000 after purchasing an additional 99,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $19.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.56. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 196.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Franklin Resources from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Profile

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.