Hedge Funds Are Dumping Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. BR investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with BR positions at the end of the previous quarter.

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

To the average investor, there are dozens of indicators shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR).

How are hedge funds trading Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)?

At year’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management had the biggest position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), worth close to $46 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Clifton S. Robbins of Blue Harbour Group, with a $46 million position; the fund has 5.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Seeing as Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedge funds that slashed their full holdings at the end of the year. Intriguingly, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors dropped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, worth close to $0 million in stock. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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