Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $523,000 in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,715 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 20,884 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank raised its position in Franklin Resources by 0.9% in the second quarter. United Community Bank now owns 37,849 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 49,680 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 5,083 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, XML Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BEN shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Franklin Resources stock opened at $34.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.20. The company has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $36.28.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Franklin Resources Company 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.