Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from eight analysts, with five giving hold ratings and three assigning buy ratings.
• Insider trading activity saw CEO Timothy C. Gokey and President Christopher John Perry sell shares, representing a decrease in their ownership positions.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.88 to $0.975 per share, yielding approximately 1.7% annually.

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $261.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $222.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 5,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.37, for a total value of $1,465,991.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 143,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,020,545.45. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 7,036 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.72, for a total value of $1,848,497.92. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 48,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,824,151.36. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have 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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $217,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $784,000. 90.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of BR opened at $228.97 on Friday. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1 year low of $208.20 and a 1 year high of $271.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $242.21. The stock has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

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

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.

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