1,947 Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Bought by Brooklyn Investment Group

Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,947 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BEN. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 27.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,678 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 8,468 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 73.4% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 258,044 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $5,200,000 after buying an additional 109,196 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 33.5% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 36,289 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 9,111 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 28.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 245,148 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after buying an additional 54,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at $1,186,000. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin Resources Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Franklin Resources stock opened at $22.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.72. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $11.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BEN. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 8,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.69, for a total value of $369,923.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This trade represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. Corporate insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and multi-asset mutual funds through its subsidiaries.