Hilton Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Hilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 130.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth about $529,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 265,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,078,000 after buying an additional 2,715 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 13.6% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the third quarter worth about $210,000. Institutional investors own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 95,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,973,188.84. This represents a 36.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 22,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.23, for a total transaction of $5,259,037.11. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 52,524 shares in the company, valued at $12,355,220.52. The trade was a 29.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 124,754 shares of company stock worth $29,397,793. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $207.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.17.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BR stock opened at $225.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 1.05. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.30 and a fifty-two week high of $246.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $235.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.77.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.24. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 44.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 55.09%.

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.