FactSet Research Systems Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.04 (NYSE:FDS)

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 1.04 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th.

FactSet Research Systems has increased its dividend by an average of 8.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 26 consecutive years. FactSet Research Systems has a dividend payout ratio of 24.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect FactSet Research Systems to earn $18.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.2%.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FDS opened at $489.23 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $467.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $436.36. The stock has a market cap of $18.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. FactSet Research Systems has a 12 month low of $391.84 and a 12 month high of $499.87.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The business services provider reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $562.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.06 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.38% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.59, for a total transaction of $1,249,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,259.85. This trade represents a 18.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $143,819. The trade was a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,984 shares of company stock worth $12,230,877 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FDS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic cut FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $503.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $451.00 to $469.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “inline” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $450.00.

About FactSet Research Systems

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.