United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,643 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BEN. Mariner LLC grew its stake in Franklin Resources by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 56,151 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.0% in the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,194 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 1,512 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 12.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,671 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.6% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 67,747 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.3%

BEN stock opened at $34.19 on Tuesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $36.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.05.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

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.