Legal & General Group Plc Sells 102,760 Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 949,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 102,760 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $214,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,294,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,231,904,000 after buying an additional 74,674 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,037,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $684,971,000 after buying an additional 37,141 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,649,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $378,175,000 after buying an additional 43,533 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $330,320,000 after purchasing an additional 55,080 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,129,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,442,000 after purchasing an additional 29,483 shares during the period. 90.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Brett Keller sold 5,442 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.40, for a total value of $1,308,256.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,536 shares in the company, valued at $3,734,854.40. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.43, for a total value of $22,590,921.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,973,188.84. This represents a 36.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 124,754 shares of company stock valued at $29,397,793 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BR opened at $232.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $236.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.02. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $188.30 and a one year high of $247.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $27.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BR shares. StockNews.com downgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.00.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

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.