Stephens Inc. AR Sells 4,723 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR cut its FactSet stake sharply, selling 4,723 shares in the fourth quarter and reducing its holdings by 75.1% to 1,568 shares valued at about $455,000.
• FactSet’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $4.46 and revenue of $611.02 million, both above analyst estimates; revenue also rose 7.1% year over year.
• The company raised its dividend to $1.16 per share quarterly, up from $1.10, for an annualized payout of $4.64 and a yield of about 2.1%.

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Free Report) by 75.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,568 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,723 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 444,058.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 13,854,613 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 2.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,932,382 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,413,078,000 after purchasing an additional 107,184 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,231 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $561,873,000 after purchasing an additional 23,660 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 3.2% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 856,039 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $245,247,000 after purchasing an additional 26,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in FactSet Research Systems by 16.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 793,832 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $227,425,000 after purchasing an additional 110,686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $320.00 to $243.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $253.00 to $217.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FactSet Research Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $279.85.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE FDS opened at $225.03 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $218.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.69. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12 month low of $185.00 and a 12 month high of $469.43.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $611.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $604.78 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 30.25%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.65 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from FactSet Research Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. FactSet Research Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.30%.

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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