FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $503.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.03% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FDS. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $485.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $471.00 to $521.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $453.69.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of FDS opened at $483.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $477.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $442.85. FactSet Research Systems has a 12 month low of $391.84 and a 12 month high of $499.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.76.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.12. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 24.38%. The company had revenue of $568.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $565.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, Director James J. Mcgonigle sold 5,410 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.83, for a total value of $2,471,450.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,413,432.89. The trade was a 50.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total value of $780,182.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,819. This represents a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,984 shares of company stock valued at $10,981,107. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 2,873.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 119,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,822,000 after purchasing an additional 115,561 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in FactSet Research Systems during the third quarter valued at about $38,909,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,932,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $888,603,000 after buying an additional 42,303 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in FactSet Research Systems by 21.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 235,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $96,113,000 after acquiring an additional 41,717 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in FactSet Research Systems by 9.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 296,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $136,267,000 after acquiring an additional 25,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Company Profile

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.