92,162 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Purchased by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 92,162 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,857,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 1,751,587 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in 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 valued at $31,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 325.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 906,270 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $20,255,000 after acquiring an additional 693,074 shares in the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $345,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 17.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock worth $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $18.94 and a one year high of $30.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.72.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current 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.