California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 531,647 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,961 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $120,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,219 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the third quarter valued at approximately $542,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 80,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,244,000 after buying an additional 7,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $950,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, VP Laura Matlin sold 514 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.60, for a total transaction of $124,182.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,043.20. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.43, for a total transaction of $22,590,921.08. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,788 shares in the company, valued at $39,973,188.84. This represents a 36.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 124,754 shares of company stock worth $29,397,793. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.00.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BR opened at $237.60 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $236.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.77. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.30 and a 52-week high of $246.58. The company has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.18 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NYSE:BR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 55.09%.

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.