Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BR. UBS Group raised their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BR opened at $241.26 on Thursday. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1 year low of $188.30 and a 1 year high of $244.47. The company has a market capitalization of $28.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $233.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.27.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 44.40% and a net margin of 11.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.09%.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other news, VP Laura Matlin sold 514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.60, for a total transaction of $124,182.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,043.20. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Brett Keller sold 5,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.40, for a total transaction of $1,308,256.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,536 shares in the company, valued at $3,734,854.40. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,151 shares of company stock valued at $5,166,162. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadridge Financial Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,560,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $804,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,555 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the fourth quarter worth approximately $106,904,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $104,466,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 882.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 437,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,186,000 after acquiring an additional 392,695 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,604,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $362,825,000 after acquiring an additional 314,323 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Company Profile

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.