FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 70.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 53,075 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $6,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FDS. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 92 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Field & Main Bank acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 5,100.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $253.00 to $217.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $279.62.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Up 2.1%

FDS stock opened at $235.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12 month low of $185.00 and a 12 month high of $468.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $220.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.94.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $611.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $604.78 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 30.25%. FactSet Research Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from FactSet Research Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. FactSet Research Systems’s 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.