Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Acquired by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 246.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 556,928 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 396,310 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $19,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $152,692,000. Kopernik Global Investors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 3,522,587 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $83,204,000 after purchasing an additional 153,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,964,424 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $46,400,000 after purchasing an additional 533,192 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BEN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Evercore restated an “underperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut Franklin Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.89.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $31.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $36.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.98. The company has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.54.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors 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 yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, operating under the Franklin Templeton name, is a global investment management organization headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company provides investment solutions to individuals, financial professionals, institutions, and other clients worldwide.

Its products and services include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional portfolios, and alternative investment strategies. Through its investment teams and specialist affiliates, Franklin Templeton offers capabilities across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, private markets, real assets, and other areas of asset management.

Franklin Resources was founded in 1947 by Rupert H.