Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 117,800 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 886,393 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,800 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $20,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Franklin Resources by 277.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BEN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $34.92 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.06. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.80%.

About Franklin Resources

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.