Merit Financial Group LLC Buys New Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,160 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $998,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 32,101 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 11,432 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 847,679 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $16,318,000 after purchasing an additional 91,958 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 5.2% in the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 583,016 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $13,905,000 after buying an additional 28,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 58.1% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 245,708 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $4,730,000 after buying an additional 90,277 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:BEN opened at $25.13 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.44. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The closed-end fund reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.98% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. This is a boost from Franklin Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 145.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.09.

Franklin Resources Profile

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.