287,391 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 287,391 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $9,561,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,254,000. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in Franklin Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $4,418,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,742,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,580,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 23.8% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 335,261 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $7,919,000 after purchasing an additional 64,483 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BEN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN opened at $34.70 on Friday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $36.28. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.99.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.80%.

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.