Brokerages Set FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Price Target at $447.69

Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $451.85.

FDS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $451.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $503.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $471.00 to $521.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of FDS opened at $487.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $475.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $441.09. FactSet Research Systems has a 52-week low of $391.84 and a 52-week high of $499.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.76.

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

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 29.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,819. This represents a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher R. Ellis sold 13,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.15, for a total value of $6,364,204.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,726,367.25. This trade represents a 37.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,984 shares of company stock valued at $10,981,107 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDS. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,932,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $888,603,000 after buying an additional 42,303 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,216,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $496,645,000 after acquiring an additional 10,928 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $460,467,000 after acquiring an additional 8,376 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 373,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $171,702,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 296,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $136,267,000 after purchasing an additional 25,294 shares in the last quarter. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.