Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Stock Price Target Lowered at TD Cowen

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price objective decreased by TD Cowen from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the closed-end fund’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Franklin Resources in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.11.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:BEN opened at $31.77 on Monday. Franklin Resources has a one year low of $21.10 and a one 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 cap of $16.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.55.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $961,845,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,850,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $152,692,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 188.2% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,131,559 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $98,703,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 4.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

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.