Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) Shares Bought by Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,191 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 240.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 975.5% during the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,140 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,111 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Franklin Resources in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BEN traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.99. 7,535,980 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,588,434. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.88 and a 12-month high of $30.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.33.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

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.