Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Short Interest Up 18.6% in May

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the April 30th total of 1,130,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 585,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Activity

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, insider Hope M. Jarkowski sold 1,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.22, for a total value of $251,214.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,685.40. This represents a 49.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela L. Carter sold 4,829 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.23, for a total value of $1,169,728.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,242 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,229.66. This trade represents a 40.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 132,873 shares of company stock valued at $31,337,863. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,733,147 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,572,199,000 after purchasing an additional 438,381 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,560,316 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $804,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186,555 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,037,015 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $684,971,000 after acquiring an additional 37,141 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,689,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $409,662,000 after acquiring an additional 39,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,648,527 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $372,713,000 after acquiring an additional 40,506 shares in the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $259.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $250.83.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BR traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $244.17. 435,024 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 523,854. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $236.20 and a 200 day moving average of $234.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1 year low of $192.68 and a 1 year high of $247.01. The stock has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.21 and a beta of 0.98.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 44.40% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. Broadridge Financial Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.93%.

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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