Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) Short Interest Up 10.5% in August

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the August 15th total of 1,240,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 539,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In related news, President Christopher John Perry sold 162 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $34,020.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 67,267 shares in the company, valued at $14,126,070. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, CEO Timothy C. Gokey sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.11, for a total value of $5,227,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 200,675 shares in the company, valued at $41,963,149.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 162 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $34,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 67,267 shares in the company, valued at $14,126,070. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,386 shares of company stock worth $28,112,824 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,465,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 642.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 81,202 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $16,707,000 after acquiring an additional 70,263 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 186,444 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,361,000 after buying an additional 14,147 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 108.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $3,627,000 after buying an additional 8,837 shares in the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $239.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $213.33.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

BR traded down $2.37 on Wednesday, hitting $208.59. The company had a trading volume of 369,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,431. The company's fifty day moving average price is $210.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.25. Broadridge Financial Solutions has a 1-year low of $166.73 and a 1-year high of $223.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60 and a beta of 1.05.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.77% and a net margin of 10.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is an increase from Broadridge Financial Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Broadridge Financial Solutions's payout ratio is currently 60.07%.

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.