FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC
BEN · Other · $16.0B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · · Shallow moat ·
Doesn't clear the bar
The five investor questions
2021–2025 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $8.4B to $8.8B, increasing; diluted EPS 3.57 to 0.91, decreasing.
Not enough years of gross-margin data to score pricing power.
Median ROIC 14.8%, above the 12% hurdle in 60% of years.
Net cash position — no leverage risk.
Owner earnings changed -12.4%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations.
The pricingPower component abstained: Not enough years of gross-margin data to score pricing power. The other four 20% weights were renormalized over the scored 80%.
Price vs. value if growth stopped today
A cautious baseline, not a price target: what the shares may support if normalized owner earnings simply hold steady.
- $883M
- $18.83
- $18.83
- $30.71
- 63% above value if growth stopped today
What today’s price assumes: owner earnings growing ~10%/yr over 5 years. The zero-growth estimate assumes owner earnings stay flat (0% growth).
How to read this
We solve for the constant annual change in owner earnings that would make the five-year zero-growth estimate equal today’s price. This keeps the existing model inputs and calculation unchanged; it is an expectations lens, not a forecast.
This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. The recent FY revenue series does not trigger the three-consecutive-declines flag.
Among the current top-score group, the median current price is 254% above the zero-growth estimate across 49 of the current top 50 companies by Moat Score with both values.
Score records captured Oct 20, 2026.
Exactly which 50 companies?
FTNT, IBEX, META, MEDP, MSFT, GOOG, LULU, ANF, IDXX, TXRH, FHI, QLYS, FFIV, ADBE, LLY, MANH, CPRT, VEEV, RMD, GRMN, PCTY, EAT, UI, SSD, MNST, DOCS, LRCX, MCO, NTAP, NVDA, CORT, SFM, MPTI, ULTA, SN, ROL, CTAS, PAYC, IRMD, DECK, MORN, INTU, JKHY, TPR, LGCY, DAL, GWW, ISRG, MPWR, LOPE
Missing a usable price or zero-growth estimate: ANF.
Model details under moat-index@3.0.0: zero-growth multiple 11.1×, capped-growth comparison at no more than 18×; 9% discount rate; high-end growth 0% (capped at 4%) using min(5y revenue CAGR, 5y diluted-EPS CAGR), clamped to 0%–4%; maintenance capex uses min(capex, D&A); abstain when D&A is unavailable. This is a disclosed model range, not intrinsic value as fact.
20 years of fundamentals
The business, in plain English
Across the filed record, revenue grew from $6.2B (FY2007) to $8.8B (FY2025) — about 1.9% a year compounded over 18 years.
It earned 3.9% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 19-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 30.5%. Over the v3 recent window (10 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 14.8%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 64/100.
The balance sheet carried $2.4B of total debt in FY2025 against $525M of owner earnings — roughly 4.5 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 66/100.
This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.
Not disclosed in BEN’s filings for these years — we don’t estimate it.
Exact FY and FY-1 financing invested-capital inputs are required.
The explained ROIC gaps have filed inputs but no meaningful positive invested-capital denominator. Other gaps mean the item is not in the filings for that year. The series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.
Visual explainers
The filing-backed explainer service is temporarily unavailable, so no partial or guessed chart is shown.
Moat Score history
Breaks in the line mark methodology or normalizer upgrades — readings across versions aren’t compared, so a level shift there isn’t a change in the business.
Tier changesSame-methodology and same-normalizer crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars
- Normalizer upgraded unstamped (version unknown)tomoat-xbrl-normalizer@1.1.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 26, 2026
- Methodology upgraded moat-index@2.0.0tomoat-index@3.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 23, 2026
- Methodology upgraded moat-index@1.2.0tomoat-index@2.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 20, 2026
Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record cannot be reconstructed retroactively, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.
Insider activity
Form 4 reports mix P/S market or private transactions with compensation-plan mechanics. Activity casually described as “insider selling” can include compensation mechanics; awards, tax withholding, and option exercises are shown by their exact filed class here, never collapsed into “Bought” or “Sold.”
These are disclosed filing facts and arithmetic aggregates, not a signal or verdict.
This machine-readable surface covers SEC ownership filings from 2003; it does not represent earlier paper-era records.
Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Oct 20, 2026.
Among the rows shown, A/F/M acquisition, payment or withholding, and exercise or conversion rows outnumber S sale rows (21 versus 0). The filing codes alone do not establish that every such row arose from a compensation plan.
Trailing-12-month totals and the 90-day cluster result are withheld because this issuer walk is incomplete.
| Insider | Shares owned after | Date | Filing detail | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOHNSON JENNIFER MDirector, Chief Executive Officer | Gift (G)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 32,625 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 3,753,930.0046 | Oct 19, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| JOHNSON JENNIFER MDirector, Chief Executive Officer | Gift (G)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 32,625 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 638,554 | Oct 19, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Merchant Thomas CEVP, General Counsel | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 37,670 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See lot detail | Oct 13, 2026 | 2 filed lots
|
| Murphy TerrenceCo-President, Public Markets | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 141,278 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See lot detail | Oct 13, 2026 | 2 filed lots
|
| Nicholls MatthewCo-President, CFO & COO | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 217,084 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See lot detail | Oct 13, 2026 | 2 filed lots
|
| JOHNSON JENNIFER MDirector, Chief Executive Officer | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 348,574 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See lot detail | Oct 13, 2026 | 2 filed lots
|
| JOHNSON GREGORY EDirector, Executive Chairman | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 46,073 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See lot detail | Oct 13, 2026 | 2 filed lots
|
| Gamba DanielCo-President, Chief Commercial | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 82,025 | $31.18 | $2,557,540 | 690,609 | Oct 13, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Oshita Lindsey HarumiChief Accounting Officer | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 6,495 | $31.18 | $202,514 | 32,624.4565 | Oct 13, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Kim John YDirector | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table II · Acquired · Deferred Director's Fees (FRI) | 1,030.7692 | $32.50 | $33,500 | 80,690.9655 | Oct 1, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| King Karen MatsushimaDirector | Grant, award, or other acquisition (A)Table II · Acquired · Deferred Director's Fees (FRI) | 1,053.8461 | $32.50 | $34,250 | 74,192.458 | Oct 1, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| JOHNSON JENNIFER MDirector, Chief Executive Officer | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 116,053 | $34.15 | $3,963,210 | 3,437,981.0046 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| JOHNSON GREGORY EDirector, Executive Chairman | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 10,568 | $34.15 | $360,897 | 2,676,986 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Oshita Lindsey HarumiChief Accounting Officer | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 2,598 | $34.15 | $88,722 | 26,129.4565 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Nicholls MatthewCo-President, CFO & COO | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 61,533 | $34.15 | $2,101,352 | 717,264 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Merchant Thomas CEVP, General Counsel | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 9,807 | $34.15 | $334,909 | 82,805 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Murphy TerrenceCo-President, Public Markets | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 25,125 | $34.15 | $858,019 | 390,884 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
| Gamba DanielCo-President, Chief Commercial | Payment of exercise price or tax liability (F)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock, par value $.10 | 64,136 | $34.15 | $2,190,244 | 608,584 | Aug 31, 2026 | 1 filed lot
|
Source-event as of . Retrieved .
Other context
#40 of 104 scored Other companies, ranked by Moat Score.
Nearest peers by Moat Score
- #38HNNA HENNESSY ADVISORS, INC.50.0 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
- #39ABX Abacus Global Management, Inc.49.9 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
- #41COIN Coinbase Global, Inc.48.5 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
- #42ICE Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.47.7 out of 100, Shallow moatShallow moat
Compare BEN with its nearest peers →All Other companies on the Index →
Common questions about BEN
- Does FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC have an economic moat?
- Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC (BEN) 49.7 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The five questions behind that score begin at 20% each; if exactly one genuinely lacks data, the other four weights are renormalized and disclosed. revenue and EPS trend 32, pricing power not measurable from the filings, returns on capital 64, balance-sheet safety 66, capital allocation 37.
- Is BEN trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
- The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $18.83 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $30.71, that is 63% above value if growth stopped today. The model also publishes a capped-growth comparison, but the zero-growth estimate is the cautious baseline. It assumes trailing owner earnings persist and is unreliable for declining businesses. This is an educational estimate from primary SEC filings, not intrinsic value as a fact or investment advice.
- How has BEN's Moat Score changed over time?
- The record logs 32 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 49.7 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. (Methodology or normalizer upgrades on Jul 20, 2026, Jul 23, 2026, Jul 26, 2026 re-based the score; readings across versions aren't compared.) The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.