Fiera Capital Corp Sells 8,662 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,662 shares and ending with 271,525 shares valued at about $78.8 million.
• Several major institutions also adjusted holdings in FDS, with some large firms increasing positions; institutional investors now own 91.24% of the company.
• FactSet beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and raised its dividend to $1.16 per share from $1.10, while analysts’ sentiment remains cautious with an average rating of “Reduce.”

Fiera Capital Corp decreased its stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,525 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,662 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp owned about 0.73% of FactSet Research Systems worth $78,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 444,058.1% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 13,857,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,021,376,000 after buying an additional 13,854,613 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,932,382 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,413,078,000 after buying an additional 107,184 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,231 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,873,000 after buying an additional 23,660 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 856,039 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $245,247,000 after buying an additional 26,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 793,832 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $227,425,000 after buying an additional 110,686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FDS. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $253.00 to $217.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $279.62.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

FDS stock opened at $255.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $185.00 and a 52 week high of $453.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $227.25 and its 200 day moving average is $244.09. The firm has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.71.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.09. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 30.25%. The company had revenue of $611.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $604.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.28 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.66 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 Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from FactSet Research Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. FactSet Research Systems's payout ratio is 29.84%.

About FactSet Research Systems

FactSet Research Systems Inc operates as a global provider of integrated financial data and analytics to the investment community. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, the company offers a unified platform that aggregates content from thousands of sources, delivering real-time and historical market data, company fundamentals, estimates, fixed-income information and proprietary analytics to portfolio managers, research analysts, investment bankers and risk officers.

The company's core products include the FactSet Workstation, an application offering customizable screening, charting, portfolio analysis and news; APIs and data feeds for seamless integration into proprietary systems; and cloud-based solutions for thematic research and quantitative strategies.

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