Sound Income Strategies LLC Purchases 34,980 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 460,768 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,980 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Franklin Resources worth $12,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 240.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 882 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 149.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Tobam raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 2,170.0% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 1,135 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franklin Resources

In related news, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson bought 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,703,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,432,777.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $29.00 to $25.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,782,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,668,495. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.57 and a 12 month high of $30.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 2.00 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a net margin of 11.09% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. Franklin Resources’s payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

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.