Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BR. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.17.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

BR opened at $231.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $235.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.50. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 52-week low of $188.30 and a 52-week high of $246.58.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 Activity

In other news, VP Laura Matlin sold 514 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,043.20. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 22,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.23, for a total transaction of $5,259,037.11. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 52,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,355,220.52. This represents a 29.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,798 shares of company stock worth $6,806,872 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 11.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,536,000 after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 157,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,898,000 after buying an additional 6,552 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 15.5% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the third quarter worth about $260,000. 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.