SVB Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

SVB Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 20.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 126,848 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,695 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays set a $31.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 2.6%

BEN opened at $33.92 on Tuesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $34.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

About Franklin Resources

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.