Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target Cut to $26.00

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.99% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.50 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.81 on Monday. Franklin Resources has a twelve month low of $21.57 and a twelve month high of $30.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.43.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.74%. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.80 per share, with a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,889,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,008,853,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,943 shares during the period. Power Corp of Canada lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 18,266.0% during the 1st quarter. Power Corp of Canada now owns 31,557,117 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $887,071,000 after acquiring an additional 31,385,293 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,652,644 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $793,983,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043,808 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,067,780 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $91,398,000 after acquiring an additional 154,850 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,878,337 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $55,956,000 after buying an additional 37,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.