Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 34,659 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 48.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,659 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.28% of FactSet Research Systems worth $50,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 44,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,440,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 10,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. 91.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut FactSet Research Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $450.00 to $402.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $525.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $503.00 price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $409.00 to $390.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FactSet Research Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $436.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total transaction of $157,443.99. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 44 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084.12. This represents a 89.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $427.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $438.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $460.59. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12 month low of $391.69 and a 12 month high of $499.87.

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

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

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.