Eastern Bank Buys 120 Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,181,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,118,644,000 after purchasing an additional 51,439 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,999,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,018,000 after buying an additional 15,208 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,594,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $342,856,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,417,000 after acquiring an additional 72,018 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 904,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,585,000 after acquiring an additional 20,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $246.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.71.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE:BR opened at $225.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.15. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $188.30 and a twelve month high of $237.96.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.90%.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 15,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.32, for a total transaction of $3,618,327.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,146 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,466.72. This trade represents a 56.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maura A. Markus sold 3,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.02, for a total transaction of $880,837.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,308,431.76. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 insiders.

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.