Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) Price Target Cut to $19.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the closed-end fund’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 3.26% from the company’s previous close.

BEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.36.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of BEN opened at $19.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.41. Franklin Resources has a 52-week low of $18.83 and a 52-week high of $28.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.21.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 5.48%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin Resources will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Franklin Resources

In other news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,900 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total transaction of $345,309.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,519 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,245.49. The trade was a 17.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Franklin Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Franklin Resources during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Franklin Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

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.