SummitTX Capital L.P. Has $2.84 Million Stock Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

SummitTX Capital L.P. lowered its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 39.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,148 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 78,446 shares during the quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $33.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $34.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.69.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BEN. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

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.