18,950 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Bought by TI Trust Inc.

TI Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $96,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 84.7% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 35,858 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 16,440 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $881,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 156.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 32,534 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 19,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.3%

BEN stock opened at $31.65 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.93. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $36.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BEN. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.