SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the February 13th total of 1,590,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 668,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

SEI Investments Price Performance

NASDAQ SEIC traded up $0.89 on Monday, hitting $74.87. The company had a trading volume of 50,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,723. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.82. SEI Investments has a 12-month low of $62.38 and a 12-month high of $87.25.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One 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 MarketBeat.com, SEI Investments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at SEI Investments

In other news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,507. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 1,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total transaction of $104,656.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 7,078,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $539,963,846.24. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,214 shares of company stock worth $6,293,903 over the last 90 days. 14.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SEI Investments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 249.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 885,113 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,241,000 after purchasing an additional 632,024 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the fourth quarter worth $48,009,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the fourth quarter worth $42,548,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the fourth quarter worth $26,702,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 13.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,520,430 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $174,092,000 after purchasing an additional 300,704 shares during the period. 70.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SEI Investments Company Profile

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.