Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Shares Sold by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network cut its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,294,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,231,904,000 after purchasing an additional 74,674 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,560,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $804,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,555 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,037,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $684,971,000 after purchasing an additional 37,141 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,649,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $378,175,000 after purchasing an additional 43,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,648,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,713,000 after purchasing an additional 40,506 shares during the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $259.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Monday, May 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,973,188.84. This trade represents a 36.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 5,056 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.55, for a total value of $1,211,164.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,070,554.85. The trade was a 19.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 114,072 shares of company stock worth $26,943,219. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock opened at $245.45 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $236.25 and a 200 day moving average of $234.76. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.68 and a 12 month high of $247.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 44.40% and a net margin of 11.36%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio 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.