Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 50,800 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 254.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Franklin Resources Inc sold 7,657 shares of Franklin Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $336,142.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 65,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,341.80. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Charles B. Johnson acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,908,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 89,308,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000,303.36. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,051,375. 24.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Franklin Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BEN opened at $22.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.90 and a 200-day moving average of $21.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.94 and a fifty-two week high of $30.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The closed-end fund reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Franklin Resources had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources 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.