Inlight Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,537 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,676,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Franklin Resources by 263.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,022,055 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $40,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,148 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Franklin Resources by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,752,326 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $75,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,210 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,715,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $765,254,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,373 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,721,446 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $237,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011,755 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $17.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.79.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $17.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.65 and a 200 day moving average of $20.39. The company has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.36. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $26.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 9.45%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is currently 196.92%.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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.