Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $239.12, but opened at $231.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions shares last traded at $236.05, with a volume of 25,592 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BR. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.71.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $28.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.53 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 simple moving average is $231.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.96.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 41.79%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 60.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maura A. Markus sold 3,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 27,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,308,431.76. The trade was a 12.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 15,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 12,146 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,466.72. The trade was a 56.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,532 shares of company stock valued at $12,264,846. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BR. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.0% in 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 buying an additional 51,439 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,999,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $643,018,000 after buying an additional 15,208 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,594,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $342,856,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 20,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 536,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $114,451,000 after buying an additional 27,869 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

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.