Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BR. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.00.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock traded up $2.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $244.70. The stock had a trading volume of 658,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 512,637. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $237.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.23. The firm has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.29 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 has a 12-month low of $188.30 and a 12-month high of $246.58.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 44.40% and a net margin of 11.36%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, VP Laura Matlin sold 514 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 $1,595,043.20. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.43, for a total value of $22,590,921.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,788 shares in the company, valued at $39,973,188.84. This trade represents a 36.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 124,754 shares of company stock worth $29,397,793 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadridge Financial Solutions

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,560,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $804,952,000 after buying an additional 1,186,555 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $106,904,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $104,466,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 882.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 437,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,186,000 after purchasing an additional 392,695 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,604,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $362,825,000 after buying an additional 314,323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

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.