Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $215.23 and traded as high as $227.13. Broadridge Financial Solutions shares last traded at $226.09, with a volume of 316,102 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BR shares. StockNews.com downgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $246.00 price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $226.71.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 41.79% and a net margin of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. Broadridge Financial Solutions's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.52 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 Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Broadridge Financial Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 24,185 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.21, for a total transaction of $5,325,778.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,975,838.77. The trade was a 47.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maura A. Markus sold 3,880 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 27,788 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BR. State Street Corp lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.0% during the third 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,999,874 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $643,018,000 after purchasing an additional 15,208 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $342,856,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,108,867 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $218,447,000 after buying an additional 6,634 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 72,018 shares in the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Company 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.