BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) Stock Price

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $521.00 to $518.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on FDS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $453.46.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $491.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $18.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $478.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $444.93. FactSet Research Systems has a fifty-two week low of $391.84 and a fifty-two week high of $499.87.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.12. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.38% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The business had revenue of $568.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.2 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.82%.

Insider Activity at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,910,253.83. This represents a 18.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total transaction of $780,182.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,819. This trade represents a 84.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FactSet Research Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 120,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $460,467,000 after purchasing an additional 8,376 shares during the last quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 101,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,588,000 after buying an additional 2,764 shares during the period. 91.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.