Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Acquired by Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 67.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 401,128 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 162,257 shares during the quarter. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $8,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 27.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,678 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,468 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 73.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 258,044 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,200,000 after purchasing an additional 109,196 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 36,289 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 9,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 245,148 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 54,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BEN. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $22.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.78 and its 200-day moving average is $21.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.94 and a 12 month high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.