New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Has $1.15 Million Stock Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 50.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,076 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,065 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter worth $25,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BEN shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Franklin Resources from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $31.00 target price on Franklin Resources and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.56.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $31.67 on Thursday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.06 and a fifty-two week high of $32.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.56.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.76%.

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.