Cannell & Spears LLC Reduces Stock Position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 74,674 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,181,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,118,644,000 after purchasing an additional 51,439 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,999,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,018,000 after purchasing an additional 15,208 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,649,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $378,175,000 after purchasing an additional 43,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,594,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $342,856,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BR has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.00.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BR opened at $242.66 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $237.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.00. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.30 and a 1 year high of $246.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98 and a beta of 1.05. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is 55.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $22,590,921.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,973,188.84. The trade was a 36.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 22,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.23, for a total value of $5,259,037.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 52,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,355,220.52. This represents a 29.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 124,754 shares of company stock worth $29,397,793. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.