Short Interest in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Declines By 9.7%

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the September 15th total of 1,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 571,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BR traded down $0.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $218.25. 403,053 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 525,169. The firm has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $166.73 and a fifty-two week high of $224.32.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.77% and a net margin of 10.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 12th were given a $0.88 dividend. This is an increase from Broadridge Financial Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 60.07%.

Insider Transactions at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In related news, VP Laura Matlin sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total value of $145,368.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,194,480. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Laura Matlin sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total transaction of $145,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,194,480. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 31,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.37, for a total transaction of $6,540,242.43. Following the transaction, the president now owns 67,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,938,374.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,386 shares of company stock valued at $28,112,824 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BR. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the first quarter worth $1,465,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 108.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 83,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,192,000 after buying an additional 43,710 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 99.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,627,000 after buying an additional 8,837 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,951,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,870,556,000 after purchasing an additional 110,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 72.7% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $239.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.33.

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.