Deutsche Bank AG Raises Stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 4.1%, now holding approximately 0.41% of the company, valued at $117.7 million.
• Broadridge Financial Solutions announced a quarterly dividend of $0.975 per share, representing a 10.32% increase from the previous dividend.
• Research analysts have raised their price targets for Broadridge, with UBS Group setting a new target at $280.00 while maintaining a "neutral" rating.

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 485,510 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,222 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.41% of Broadridge Financial Solutions worth $117,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,186,555 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 40,506 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,615,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $365,177,000 after buying an additional 20,716 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,604,783 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $362,825,000 after buying an additional 314,323 shares during the period. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other news, Director Maura A. Markus sold 3,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.08, for a total value of $864,392.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,509,227.36. This represents a 10.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela L. Carter sold 4,829 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.23, for a total transaction of $1,169,728.67. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,754,229.66. The trade was a 40.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,477 shares of company stock worth $5,093,784 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $259.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.50.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Down 0.4%

Broadridge Financial Solutions stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $262.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 679,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,267. 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 stock has a market cap of $30.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $244.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.33. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $206.29 and a 12 month high of $271.91.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.06 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 42.72%. Broadridge Financial Solutions's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.975 per share. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from Broadridge Financial Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 11th. Broadridge Financial Solutions's payout ratio is currently 49.65%.

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.