Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires 829 Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BR. Graypoint LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 157,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,552 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $260,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 86.4% during the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 6,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 2,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 130.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Brett Keller sold 5,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.40, for a total transaction of $1,308,256.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,734,854.40. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Matlin sold 514 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.60, for a total transaction of $124,182.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,043.20. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,441 shares of company stock valued at $1,547,835 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.17.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Up 1.5 %

BR stock opened at $241.30 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.50. The company has a market capitalization of $28.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.30 and a 12 month high of $246.58.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

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

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.