Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Cut 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 note published on Thursday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.00.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BR opened at $231.56 on Thursday. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $188.30 and a fifty-two week high of $247.01. The company has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a PE ratio of 36.24 and a beta of 1.06. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.30.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 44.40%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.43, for a total transaction of $22,590,921.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,788 shares in the company, valued at $39,973,188.84. The trade was a 36.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 124,754 shares of company stock worth $29,397,793. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadridge Financial Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BR. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 18,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,396,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 7.1% in the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 36.4% during the first quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Atwater Malick LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the first quarter valued at $289,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 18.4% in the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 21,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,221,000 after buying an additional 3,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

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.