My Legacy Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,432 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,129 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 22,082 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,622 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 2.9% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,500 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $21.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,735,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,837,572. The stock has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.53. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.60 and a 1-year high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The closed-end fund reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 10.60%. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 24.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Franklin Resources

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.