SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Short Interest Up 22.4% in December

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 22.4% from the November 30th total of 1,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 684,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

SEI Investments Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:SEIC traded up $0.29 on Tuesday, reaching $82.93. 252,839 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 602,564. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.03. SEI Investments has a 12 month low of $61.58 and a 12 month high of $87.25. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.98.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.08 million. SEI Investments had a return on equity of 24.29% and a net margin of 26.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SEI Investments will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. SEI Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.67%.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the asset manager to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at SEI Investments

In other news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 94,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.73, for a total transaction of $8,072,165.34. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,284,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $624,539,963.72. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Peterson sold 25,000 shares of SEI Investments stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.59, for a total transaction of $1,864,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $484,835. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 239,258 shares of company stock valued at $19,753,402. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SEI Investments by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,520,430 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $174,092,000 after acquiring an additional 300,704 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 19.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,380,311 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,291,000 after purchasing an additional 222,631 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in SEI Investments by 249.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 885,113 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $61,241,000 after buying an additional 632,024 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in SEI Investments by 2.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,187 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,791,000 after buying an additional 10,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in SEI Investments by 3.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 544,477 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,672,000 after buying an additional 19,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on SEI Investments from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.25.

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.