Brokerages Set FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Target Price at $446.67

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $446.67.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FDS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $464.00 to $503.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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 increased their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $440.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $455.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Up 0.3 %

FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $459.85 on Thursday. FactSet Research Systems has a 52 week low of $391.84 and a 52 week high of $488.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $425.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.46.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $562.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.06 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 24.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.16 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.37%.

Insider Transactions at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.75, for a total value of $1,238,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,915 shares in the company, valued at $5,330,666.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other FactSet Research Systems news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.75, for a total value of $1,238,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,330,666.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James J. Mcgonigle sold 5,410 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.83, for a total value of $2,471,450.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,413,432.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,362 shares of company stock valued at $11,323,675 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FactSet Research Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 2,873.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 119,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,822,000 after acquiring an additional 115,561 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,977,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 272,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,447,000 after purchasing an additional 94,952 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 1,844.5% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 45,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,761,000 after buying an additional 43,346 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 21.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 235,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $96,113,000 after buying an additional 41,717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

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.