Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in FactSet by 9.7% in Q4, selling 477,372 shares and now holds 4,455,010 shares (12.01% of the company) valued at about $1.293 billion.
• FactSet beat recent quarterly estimates with $4.46 EPS vs. $4.37 expected and revenue up 7.1% year-over-year, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $1.10 ($4.40 annual, ~1.9% yield).
• Analysts have grown cautious, with several price-target cuts (including Barclays and Goldman) and a MarketBeat consensus rating of Reduce and an average target of $279.85, while the stock trades at a market cap of $8.29 billion and a P/E of ~14.6.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,455,010 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 477,372 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.01% of FactSet Research Systems worth $1,292,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FDS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 5.6% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,727 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 27.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 972 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 188.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 98 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 58.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 15.6% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,347,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company's stock.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

FDS stock opened at $227.51 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $217.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.22. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52-week low of $185.00 and a 52-week high of $474.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.73. 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 (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $611.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $604.78 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.28 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. FactSet Research Systems's payout ratio is 28.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

FactSet Research Systems Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.