FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• FactSet Research Systems Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from 15 brokerages, with six analysts rating it as a sell and eight as hold.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a miss on earnings per share estimates, reporting $4.05 compared to the expected $4.13, while also showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.2%.
• FactSet's quarterly dividend was paid at a rate of $1.10 per share, representing a 1.6% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 28.30%.

Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $359.10.

FDS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $393.00 to $293.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FactSet Research Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $355.00 to $296.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $452.00 to $324.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

FDS stock opened at $282.44 on Monday. FactSet Research Systems has a 1 year low of $280.03 and a 1 year high of $499.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $356.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $409.29.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The business services provider reported $4.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.13 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $596.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $593.32 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 31.06% and a net margin of 25.72%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. FactSet Research Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.900-17.600 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. FactSet Research Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.30%.

Insider Activity at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.60, for a total value of $1,106,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 44 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,474.40. This represents a 98.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher Mcloughlin acquired 338 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $296.19 per share, with a total value of $100,112.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,446 shares in the company, valued at $1,020,670.74. This trade represents a 10.88% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,825,481 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FDS. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 57.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 829,174 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $370,873,000 after buying an additional 301,129 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 39.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 683,146 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $305,558,000 after purchasing an additional 192,448 shares during the period. PFG Advisors increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 4,209.8% during the second quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 192,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $85,878,000 after purchasing an additional 187,545 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 3.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,795,354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,180,160,000 after purchasing an additional 137,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,148,000. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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.