Hardy Reed LLC Purchases 591 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Hardy Reed LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,721 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 561.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.86.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $20.90 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.38 and a 200-day moving average of $20.76. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $28.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 196.93%.

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.