Morse Asset Management Inc Has $223,000 Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Morse Asset Management Inc lowered its position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 88.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,650 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 72,420 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Franklin Resources by 5.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,065,908 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $232,833,000 after purchasing an additional 553,184 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 1.7% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 3,242,470 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $74,998,000 after buying an additional 53,741 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,236,553 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $77,192,000 after buying an additional 80,146 shares during the last quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 2,843,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $67,826,000 after buying an additional 407,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,618,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BEN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $24.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.46. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.25 and a 52-week high of $28.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.40.

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

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

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 5.4%. 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.