Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. $BR

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions, purchasing 3,415 shares worth approximately $830,000 in the second quarter.
• Institutional investors now hold 90.03% of Broadridge's stock, with multiple hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and Ameriprise Financial, increasing their stakes significantly during the recent quarter.
• Broadridge recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.88 to $0.975 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 55.01%.

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,415 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,733,147 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,572,199,000 after purchasing an additional 438,381 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,689,607 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $409,662,000 after purchasing an additional 39,846 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,168,351 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $283,278,000 after purchasing an additional 38,527 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,076,761 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $261,071,000 after purchasing an additional 33,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 577.9% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,035,938 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $251,513,000 after purchasing an additional 883,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In related news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 84,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.53, for a total transaction of $21,948,711.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 165,634 shares in the company, valued at $42,986,992.02. The trade was a 33.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 7,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president owned 48,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,824,151.36. This represents a 12.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.50.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock opened at $232.45 on Wednesday. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $208.20 and a one year high of $271.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $245.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $242.16.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.975 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Broadridge Financial Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Broadridge Financial Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.01%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.