Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Has $333,000 Holdings in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,191 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after buying an additional 896 shares during the quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Franklin Resources were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BEN. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $2,763,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Franklin Resources by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,622 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in Franklin Resources by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 290,588 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $8,657,000 after acquiring an additional 2,338 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Franklin Resources by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 54,011 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 15,712 shares during the period. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin Resources Stock Down 0.4 %

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

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The closed-end fund reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 12.30%. Franklin Resources’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Franklin Resources in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Franklin Resources from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

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.