Power Corp of Canada Raises Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Power Corp of Canada grew its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,269,966 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,744 shares during the period. Franklin Resources accounts for 92.5% of Power Corp of Canada’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Power Corp of Canada owned about 0.06% of Franklin Resources worth $650,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 102,385 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,490 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,857,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Franklin Resources by 50.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 32,904 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 65,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $22.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.66. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. Franklin Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources 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.