SEI Investments Company (NASDAQ:SEIC) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of SEI Investments Company (NASDAQ:SEIC - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,039 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,033 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of SEI Investments worth $17,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in SEI Investments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of SEI Investments by 156.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 543 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 803 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 860 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in SEI Investments by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 943 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SEI Investments Trading Down 1.6%

SEIC stock traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.33. 597,653 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 748,786. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.18. SEI Investments Company has a 12-month low of $62.38 and a 12-month high of $94.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.92.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $551.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.76 million. SEI Investments had a net margin of 27.77% and a return on equity of 26.40%. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SEI Investments Company will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the asset manager to buy up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. This is an increase from SEI Investments's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. SEI Investments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.30%.

Insider Transactions at SEI Investments

In other SEI Investments news, EVP Michael Peterson sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.27, for a total transaction of $4,213,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,137,645. This represents a 78.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 66,126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.28, for a total value of $5,573,099.28. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 6,937,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,699,410.96. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,126 shares of company stock valued at $19,638,659 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on SEIC shares. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of SEI Investments in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on SEI Investments from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $79.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.00.

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.