Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 4,354 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,867 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,354 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of FactSet Research Systems worth $58,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $386,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 14,643 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,180 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $191,238,000 after buying an additional 48,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 1,255 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $409.00 to $390.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of FactSet Research Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $450.00 to $402.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group cut their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $525.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $503.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $436.90.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of FDS opened at $454.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $432.58 and a 200-day moving average of $458.33. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 1 year low of $391.69 and a 1 year high of $499.87. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The business services provider reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.17 by $0.11. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.16% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The company had revenue of $570.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $570.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. This is a boost from FactSet Research Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. FactSet Research Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total transaction of $157,443.99. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,084.12. This represents a 89.19 % 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. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.