Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 6,552 Shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,552 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Broadridge Financial Solutions worth $33,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BR. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $1,118,644,000 after buying an additional 51,439 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,999,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,018,000 after acquiring an additional 15,208 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,634 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,417,000 after purchasing an additional 72,018 shares during the last quarter. 90.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Broadridge Financial Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.71.

Insider Activity at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other news, insider Douglas Richard Deschutter sold 24,185 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.21, for a total value of $5,325,778.85. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 10,757 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.82, for a total transaction of $2,439,902.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,878,118.98. This represents a 45.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,532 shares of company stock worth $12,264,846. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Trading Down 0.7 %

BR stock opened at $224.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $225.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.18. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $188.30 and a 1-year high of $237.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 10.57% and a return on equity of 41.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Broadridge Financial Solutions’s payout ratio is 60.90%.

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.