18,600 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Bought by Oak Grove Capital LLC

Oak Grove Capital LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 18,600 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at $152,692,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 188.2% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $98,703,000 after buying an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.6% during the first quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $83,204,000 after buying an additional 153,422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $31.98 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.63 and its 200-day moving average is $31.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.54. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during 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%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on BEN shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton brand, is a global investment management organization. The company provides investment solutions for individual investors, financial professionals, institutions and retirement-plan participants through a range of actively managed and specialized strategies.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and alternative investment strategies. Franklin Templeton offers capabilities spanning equities, fixed income, multi-asset investing, private markets and other specialized areas, with investment teams and brands serving different market segments and regions.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.