Wendell David Associates Inc. Trims Stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Key Points

• Wendell David Associates trimmed its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,475 shares to hold 19,526 shares worth about $5.67 million, while institutional investors own roughly 91.24% of the stock.
• Analysts are mixed but skew negative overall: MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Reduce" with a $279.85 price target (1 Strong Buy, 1 Buy, 9 Hold, 6 Sell).
• FactSet recently beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $4.46 versus $4.37 and revenue of $611.02M versus $604.78M, and it pays a $1.10 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.40, ~1.9% yield).

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its position in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,526 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,475 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc. owned 0.05% of FactSet Research Systems worth $5,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in FactSet Research Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 92 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in FactSet Research Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Field & Main Bank purchased a new stake in FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 91.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Evercore upped their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $320.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $279.85.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

NYSE FDS opened at $232.23 on Thursday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $216.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.39. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12-month low of $185.00 and a 12-month high of $474.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.73.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.09. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 30.25% and a net margin of 24.48%.The company had revenue of $611.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $604.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.28 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.65 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

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

FactSet Research Systems 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.

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