Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,160,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the March 31st total of 21,870,000 shares. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $793,983,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043,808 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $49,547,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,750,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $43,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,225 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,322.5% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,984 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $24,427,000 after buying an additional 833,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,684,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE BEN opened at $23.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.62 and its 200 day moving average is $26.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $21.88 and a 1 year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.