Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $17.94 Million Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,109.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 775,490 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 711,347 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.15% of Franklin Resources worth $17,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 3,869.2% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the second quarter. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. now owns 1,283 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Franklin Resources by 257.8% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $27.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $28.32. The company has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.46.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

About Franklin Resources

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.