Picton Mahoney Asset Management Makes New $1.95 Million Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 84,248 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,948,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 4.5% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 12,287 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.5% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,846 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 9,351 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $26.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.42. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $28.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BEN. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $25.89.

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.