TIAA Trust National Association Grows Position in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,234 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,245 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $1,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.1% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.50 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $31.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $32.47.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 10.58%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

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.