Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 38,680 Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 38,680 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 24.8% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 615,925 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $12,411,000 after acquiring an additional 122,300 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $301,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 44.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $60,421,000 after acquiring an additional 925,590 shares in the last quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 42.4% in the third quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 122,966 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 36,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the third quarter valued at about $121,000. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, CEO Jennifer M. Johnson acquired 12,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.66 per share, for a total transaction of $249,682.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,637,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,857,182. The trade was a 0.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $336,142.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,341.80. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 212,700 shares of company stock worth $4,141,682 and have sold 24,024 shares worth $1,051,375. Company insiders own 24.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $23.75 to $21.25 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE BEN opened at $21.96 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.76. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.38.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.19%.

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.