Magnetar Financial LLC Buys Shares of 187,132 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 187,132 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $4,328,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at about $76,051,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $60,618,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $51,384,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,293,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1,109.0% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 775,490 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $17,937,000 after acquiring an additional 711,347 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BEN stock opened at $24.98 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $13.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 0.80 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 50-day simple moving average of $26.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 122.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $25.89.

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.