The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) Price Target to $253.00

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) had its price objective cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $282.00 to $253.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the business services provider’s stock.

FDS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upgraded FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $425.00 in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $307.00 price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Huber Research upgraded shares of FactSet Research Systems to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $314.75.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $288.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. FactSet Research Systems has a twelve month low of $250.50 and a twelve month high of $493.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $279.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.59.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The business services provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.36 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $607.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $599.69 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 25.40%.The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.37 earnings per share. FactSet Research Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.900-17.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is 28.30%.

FactSet Research Systems declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher Mcloughlin acquired 338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $296.19 per share, for a total transaction of $100,112.22. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 3,446 shares in the company, valued at $1,020,670.74. The trade was a 10.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Helen L. Shan acquired 370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $275.48 per share, with a total value of $101,927.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,556.32. This trade represents a 4.15% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 1,208 shares of company stock valued at $328,505 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 4,300.0% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in FactSet Research Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in FactSet Research Systems during the third quarter worth about $28,000. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stores Impacting FactSet Research Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting FactSet Research Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — FactSet reported $4.51 EPS vs. consensus ~$4.36 and revenue of $607.6M, driven by subscription/organic growth; this is the primary bullish catalyst. FactSet Reports Results for First Quarter Fiscal 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $600M share repurchase (up to ~5.4% of shares), signaling management believes shares are undervalued and supporting buyback-driven EPS accretion. RTT News
• Positive Sentiment: Some broker actions are constructive — Morgan Stanley upgraded FactSet (coverage note widely cited), and there was unusually high call‑option volume that suggests bullish speculative interest. Morgan Stanley upgrade (MSN) Options flow (AmericanBankingNews)
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating with a $320 target (implies upside vs. current price but no change in stance). Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Company published earnings call transcript and slide deck for investors; useful detail but unlikely to move price by itself. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs cut the price target to $253 and moved to a “sell” rating—this is a material bearish signal and likely a headwind for the stock. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel lowered its target from $372 to $295 and set a “hold” — another analyst downgrade that reduces upward momentum. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance (16.90–17.60) was slightly below consensus (~17.33), which helps explain some selling pressure despite the beat — investors are focused on the full‑year outlook. Zacks

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.