Strong Tower Advisory Services Increases Stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $2,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew 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 valued at $888,603,000 after purchasing an additional 42,303 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $460,467,000 after buying an additional 8,376 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 493,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $226,867,000 after acquiring an additional 52,741 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 373,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $171,702,000 after acquiring an additional 4,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 340,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $164,653,000 after acquiring an additional 59,173 shares during the period. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $521.00 to $518.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $503.00 price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $485.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $453.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total transaction of $780,182.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,819. This trade represents a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE FDS opened at $462.64 on Monday. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $391.84 and a fifty-two week high of $499.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $480.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.95.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $568.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $565.14 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 24.16%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.82%.

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.