FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) Trading Down 3.4% – What’s Next?

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)’s stock price dropped 3.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $472.38 and last traded at $473.05. Approximately 105,457 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 263,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $489.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $485.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $453.69.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Down 1.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $476.92 and a 200 day moving average of $442.24.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $568.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.14 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.38% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.2 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $1.04 dividend. 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 0.87%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FactSet Research Systems news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.09, for a total value of $1,365,270.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,987 shares in the company, valued at $5,910,253.83. This trade represents a 18.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher R. Ellis sold 13,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,726,367.25. This represents a 37.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,984 shares of company stock worth $10,981,107 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FDS. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FactSet Research Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 144.4% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 750.0% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 6,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 68 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 91.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.