Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Purchased by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 1,041.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,334 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 211,073 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $4,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Franklin Resources by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 102,385 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,320,000 after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 381,192 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,998,574 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $60,421,000 after purchasing an additional 925,590 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,857,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Franklin Resources by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,950 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 32,904 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $19.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $22.40 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.94 and a 1 year high of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.66. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Franklin Resources news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson purchased 100,000 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $1,908,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,020.11. This represents a 14.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375 in the last quarter. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.