Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. $BR

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $1,507,000 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 28,222.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 949,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $230,254,000 after purchasing an additional 946,304 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 577.9% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,035,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $251,513,000 after purchasing an additional 883,125 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,733,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,572,199,000 after purchasing an additional 438,381 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $91,445,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 156.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 404,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $98,155,000 after purchasing an additional 247,157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BR shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $222.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, President Christopher John Perry sold 7,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.72, for a total transaction of $1,848,497.92. Following the sale, the president owned 48,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,824,151.36. This trade represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 5,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.37, for a total transaction of $1,465,991.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 143,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,020,545.45. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 147,532 shares of company stock worth $38,417,208. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Down 0.6%

BR stock opened at $232.81 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $208.20 and a twelve month high of $271.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $250.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.59. The stock has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 0.95.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 42.72%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.975 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. This is an increase from Broadridge Financial Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 55.01%.

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.