First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $2,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 64,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,535,000 after acquiring an additional 3,457 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 5,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 1,513 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, Director Maura A. Markus sold 3,880 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.02, for a total value of $880,837.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,308,431.76. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 10,757 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,878,118.98. This represents a 45.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,532 shares of company stock valued at $12,264,846 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BR shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $246.00 price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Broadridge Financial Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.71.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Up 0.3 %

BR stock opened at $237.48 on Monday. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $188.30 and a twelve month high of $237.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $27.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.23.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 60.90%.

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.