Short Interest in SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Grows By 21.8%

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, an increase of 21.8% from the February 28th total of 2,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 691,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SEIC shares. Raymond James raised SEI Investments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on SEI Investments from $84.00 to $81.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SEI Investments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.20.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SEIC opened at $77.59 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.95 and a 200-day moving average of $78.67. The stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.94. SEI Investments has a fifty-two week low of $62.38 and a fifty-two week high of $87.25.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.02). SEI Investments had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 25.51%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SEI Investments will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

SEI Investments announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 18th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to repurchase up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.39, for a total value of $401,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,507. The trade was a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 1,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total transaction of $104,656.16. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,078,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,963,846.24. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,903 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SEIC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 578 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in SEI Investments by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its stake in SEI Investments by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 5,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 452 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SEI Investments

SEI Investments Company is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides wealth management, retirement and investment solutions, asset management, asset administration, investment processing outsourcing solutions, financial services, and investment advisory services to its clients.