Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR)

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $259.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BR. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $231.00 to $249.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.83.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock opened at $242.33 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $234.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.19. The company has a market cap of $28.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.92 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a one year low of $192.68 and a one year high of $247.01.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 44.40%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.93, for a total value of $115,396.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,180,132.80. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.43, for a total value of $22,590,921.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 169,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,973,188.84. This trade represents a 36.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 128,302 shares of company stock worth $30,242,095 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,733,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,572,199,000 after acquiring an additional 438,381 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 valued at $804,952,000 after buying an additional 1,186,555 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,037,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $684,971,000 after purchasing an additional 37,141 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,689,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $409,662,000 after buying an additional 39,846 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,648,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $372,713,000 after purchasing an additional 40,506 shares during the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.