Blair William & Co. IL Increases Holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,648 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $7,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 24.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $542,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $212,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 9.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 80,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,244,000 after acquiring an additional 7,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.3% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

Insider Activity

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, VP Laura Matlin sold 514 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.60, for a total value of $124,182.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,043.20. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.43, for a total value of $22,590,921.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,788 shares in the company, valued at $39,973,188.84. This trade represents a 36.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 124,754 shares of company stock valued at $29,397,793 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:BR opened at $237.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $236.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.66. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $188.30 and a 1-year high of $246.58.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.09%.

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.