HM Payson & Co. Grows Stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDS. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in FactSet Research Systems by 11.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 27.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 5.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 13.7% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.4% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 8,407 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FDS. Redburn Atlantic lowered FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $451.00 to $469.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $440.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $455.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $443.57.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FDS opened at $454.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.75. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $391.84 and a 52 week high of $488.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $447.89 and a 200 day moving average of $429.47.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The business services provider reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. FactSet Research Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FactSet Research Systems news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.09, for a total value of $1,365,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,910,253.83. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 the SEC website. In other news, insider Catrina Harding sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $407.96, for a total transaction of $184,805.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $310,049.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.09, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,815 shares of company stock valued at $11,635,501. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.