Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on BR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $222.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.50.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BR opened at $231.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1 year low of $208.20 and a 1 year high of $271.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $243.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.54.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 42.72%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a $0.975 dividend. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Broadridge Financial Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.01%.

Insider Transactions at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 5,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.37, for a total value of $1,465,991.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 143,285 shares in the company, valued at $37,020,545.45. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 7,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.72, for a total transaction of $1,848,497.92. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 48,813 shares in the company, valued at $12,824,151.36. This represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 147,532 shares of company stock worth $38,417,208. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadridge Financial Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,031,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,653,086,000 after purchasing an additional 298,273 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,642,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,376,006,000 after acquiring an additional 35,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 4.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,292,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $797,031,000 after acquiring an additional 136,386 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.6% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,751,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $425,610,000 after acquiring an additional 61,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,466,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $356,470,000 after purchasing an additional 36,355 shares during the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.