Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $998,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Merit Financial Group LLC bought 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 SEC. The fund bought 43,160 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $998,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BEN. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Consultiva Wealth Management CORP. increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 177.1% in the 2nd 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 in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $27.48 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.26. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $28.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a PEG 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 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.