The experts in the financial sector who work at StockNews.com were the first to cover Franklin Resources in a research study published on Thursday and made available to investors (NYSE: BEN).
The company has recommended that investors “hold” onto their closed-end fund shares until further notice.
On Monday, January 30, the most recent quarterly earnings report for Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) was released.
The report was for the prior quarter.
The closed-end fund reported earnings for the quarter of $0.51 per share, which was $0.03 less than the estimate compiled by the market as a whole, which was $0.54 per share.
A return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 12.52% are two indicators that demonstrate how successful Franklin Resources’ performance was.
The actual revenue the company brought in for the quarter was $1.97 billion, which is higher than the forecasted revenue of $1.85 billion expected for the company throughout the quarter. Compared to the previous year’s results for the same period, the company posted a profit of $1.08 per share.
The company’s quarterly sales experienced a decrease of 11.6% compared to the same quarter in the previous year’s financial year.
It is anticipated by analysts who concentrate on equity research that Franklin Resources will generate earnings of 2.34 cents per share during the current fiscal year.
NYSE On Thursday, the first day of trading for BEN, the price was $26.90.
The current price of the stock, which is sitting at $29.99, is higher than its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which are both set at $26.69. 4.97 is the value reached when the current, quick, and debt-to-equity ratios are all added together.
The ratio of debt to equity is currently at 0.76.
The current price of $20.24 per share of Franklin Resources shares is significantly lower than the 52-week high of $34.37 that was reached earlier today.
The company has a beta value of 1.27 and a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, resulting in a market value of $13.46 billion.
Concerning BEN, a substantial quantity of supplementary papers have been written. Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods raised the price objective for Franklin Resources in a research report published on January 31.
The new price objective is $27.00, an increase from the previous price objective of $26.00.
Despite this, the company continued to assign an “underperform” rating to the company and advised shareholders to dispose of their holdings in the company.
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” recommendation in a research note published on January 31.
The company kept a $27.00 price target for the stock, however.
Morgan Stanley changed their rating for Franklin Resources from “underweight” to “neutral” on Thursday, January 19, in a research note made available to the public that same day.
In addition to this, they raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $23.00.
BMO Capital Markets upgraded its rating on Franklin Resources from “market perform” to “outperform” in a research note published on Tuesday, January 31.
In addition, they increased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $23.00.
Both of these changes were effective immediately. JPMorgan Chase & Co increased their price target on Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note published on January 31.
The business received no further good news after this particular piece of information.
Ten market analysts recommend buying the stock, but only five recommend selling it. Seven others suggest keeping it in one’s portfolio.
According to the data provided by Bloomberg, the stock has been assigned the recommendation of “Hold,” and market analysts have projected that its price will reach $25.27 at some point in the future.
Alok Sethi, the executive vice president of Franklin Resources, sold 29,503 shares of the company’s stock on February 1.
The total amount received for the stock sale was $917,248.27, and the price received per share was $31.09. Following the successful conclusion of the transaction, the executive vice president was awarded direct ownership of 92,132 shares of the company’s stock.
The total value of these shares is $2,864,383.88. You will be able to acquire additional information regarding the transaction if you click on the link that has been provided for you.
This link will take you to an official Securities and Exchange Commission document. Company insiders own a total of 23.40 percent of the company’s shares of stock.
The percentage of stocks that hedge funds and other types of institutional investors hold in their portfolios has been a topic of discussion among several of these investors in recent months.
The percentage of Franklin Resources owned by American Century Companies INC increased by 63.4% over the year’s first three months.
American Century Companies INC now has 74,206 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, which has a value of $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 28,795 shares during the period in question.
These shares have a value of $2,072,000.
The value of Private Advisor Group LLC’s assets invested in Franklin Resources rose by 24.8% during the first three months of 2018.
Private Advisor Group LLC now holds 11,477 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, following the purchase of an additional 2,277 shares during the most recent period.
These shares are currently valued at $320,000, which Private Advisor Group LLC acquired.
MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings of Franklin Resources saw a 23.5% increase during the first three months of 2018 due to the company’s acquisition of additional shares. Following acquiring an additional 14,580 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock throughout the month, MetLife Investment Management LLC now has 76,665 shares of its stock.
The value of these shares on the market currently is $2,140,000.
Panagora Asset Management INC increased the amount of Franklin Resources stock owned by 89.2% over the year’s first three months.
Panagora Asset Management INC now has 36,852 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, worth a combined total of $1,029,000 after the company made additional purchases of 17,376 shares during the relevant period in the question.
And finally, during the first three months of this year, Rhumbline Advisers increased the proportion of Franklin Resources stock held by 4%.
This was accomplished over the company’s first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers is now the owner of 489,475 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock following the acquisition of an additional 18,645 shares during the most recent period.
A total of $13,666,000 worth of value is associated with these shares.
To the tune of 45.47 percent of the company’s stock, institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold the company’s shares.