FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 59,228 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.75% of FactSet Research Systems worth $137,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FDS. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $364,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 6.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,273,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 5,200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $416.16 on Friday. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $391.69 and a fifty-two week high of $499.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $444.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.68.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The business services provider reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.17 by $0.11. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.16% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The business had revenue of $570.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $570.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $503.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $525.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut FactSet Research Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $450.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $409.00 to $390.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $436.27.

Insider Transactions at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total value of $157,443.99. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,084.12. This trade represents a 89.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About FactSet Research Systems

FactSet Research Systems Inc, a financial data company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth.