Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $203.17.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Up 1.1 %

BR stock opened at $203.88 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $201.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 0.99. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $139.35 and a fifty-two week high of $210.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 41.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $4,521,678.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,891,320. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.58, for a total transaction of $167,311.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,603.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total value of $4,521,678.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,891,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,483 shares of company stock valued at $9,745,637 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 400.0% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.