Summit Trail Advisors LLC Buys 2,415 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,469 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 6.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,563,774 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $161,338,000 after acquiring an additional 415,512 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,053,751 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,061,000 after purchasing an additional 202,288 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,840,863 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $45,248,000 after purchasing an additional 14,896 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,750,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $43,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,225 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,491,598 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $44,435,000 after buying an additional 144,843 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BEN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

BEN stock opened at $23.05 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.88 and a 52 week high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.44.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.