FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $453.46.

Several analysts have weighed in on FDS shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “inline” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $521.00 to $518.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total value of $780,182.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,819. The trade was a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FDS. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 88,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,498,000 after purchasing an additional 4,403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of FDS opened at $470.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $477.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. FactSet Research Systems has a twelve month low of $391.84 and a twelve month high of $499.87. The stock has a market cap of $17.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.76.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $568.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.14 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.16% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.82%.

FactSet Research Systems Company Profile

FactSet Research Systems Inc, a financial data company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth.