Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $238.95 and last traded at $238.79, with a volume of 16226 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $237.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BR has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $246.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.71.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $27.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 41.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 60.90%.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 10,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.82, for a total transaction of $2,439,902.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,878,118.98. This trade represents a 45.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 24,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.21, for a total value of $5,325,778.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,975,838.77. This represents a 47.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 29,837 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,535 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,036,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

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.