Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. $BR Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,733,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,572,199,000 after purchasing an additional 438,381 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,689,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $409,662,000 after purchasing an additional 39,846 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,168,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $283,278,000 after purchasing an additional 38,527 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,076,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,071,000 after purchasing an additional 33,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 577.9% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,035,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $251,513,000 after purchasing an additional 883,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock opened at $232.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.20 and a 1 year high of $271.91. The company has a market capitalization of $27.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $250.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.56.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.72% and a net margin of 12.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.975 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Broadridge Financial Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 55.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $222.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $261.50.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In related news, President Christopher John Perry sold 7,036 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.72, for a total transaction of $1,848,497.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 48,813 shares in the company, valued at $12,824,151.36. The trade was a 12.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 84,571 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.53, for a total value of $21,948,711.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 165,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,986,992.02. This represents a 33.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,532 shares of company stock valued at $38,417,208 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% 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.