Investors Buy High Volume of Franklin Resources Call Options (NYSE:BEN)

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 40,631 call options on the company. This is an increase of 3,179% compared to the average volume of 1,239 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the 2nd quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BEN shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $24.09.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $24.39. 3,246,858 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,401,222. The company has a market capitalization of $12.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.91 and its 200-day moving average is $23.77. Franklin Resources has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th. This is an increase from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 140.66%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.