Legal & General Group Plc Invests $20.02 Million in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 601,803 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $20,022,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

BEN opened at $34.70 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.99. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BEN shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

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.