ORG Partners LLC Buys 8,361 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,583.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,889 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 8,361 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,555,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,592 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $506,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,022,432,777.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,210,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,707,680. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.75. The stock has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.92 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.