Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 14,361 Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,412 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,361 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Broadridge Financial Solutions worth $14,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:BR opened at $198.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.54 and a 12 month high of $210.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.93.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $4,521,678.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,680 shares in the company, valued at $8,891,320. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 22,722 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.00, for a total transaction of $4,521,678.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,680 shares in the company, valued at $8,891,320. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 12,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.02, for a total value of $2,559,185.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,674,169.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,483 shares of company stock valued at $9,745,637 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BR shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.67.

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.