AE Wealth Management LLC Makes New $299,000 Investment in SEI Investments Company (NASDAQ:SEIC)

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC acquired 3,854 shares of SEI Investments Company valued at approximately $299,000 during the first quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the stock.
• A number of large investors have also significantly increased their stakes in SEI Investments, with notable increases from FMR LLC and Geode Capital Management, raising their positions by 39.3% and 2.4%, respectively.
• SEI Investments recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.49 per share, boosting its yield to 2.21%, demonstrating the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in SEI Investments Company (NASDAQ:SEIC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,854 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in SEI Investments by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 88,164 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,272,000 after buying an additional 9,607 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SEI Investments during the fourth quarter valued at $48,009,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of SEI Investments during the fourth quarter valued at $1,155,000. DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 21,925 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the fourth quarter valued at about $216,000. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SEI Investments news, insider Sanjay Sharma sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.40, for a total value of $1,668,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,992,843. The trade was a 45.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.78, for a total value of $6,433,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 7,003,708 shares in the company, valued at $600,778,072.24. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 237,126 shares of company stock worth $20,082,409. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company's stock.

SEI Investments Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ SEIC traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $88.15. 237,994 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 869,167. SEI Investments Company has a 12 month low of $62.38 and a 12 month high of $93.96. The company's 50 day moving average price is $88.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.95.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.60. SEI Investments had a return on equity of 29.96% and a net margin of 31.25%. The firm had revenue of $559.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SEI Investments Company will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from SEI Investments's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. SEI Investments's payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on SEI Investments from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on SEI Investments from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $98.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.00.

About SEI Investments

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.