FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Short Interest Down 13.5% in March

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the February 28th total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 306,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days. Currently, 3.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FDS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $503.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded FactSet Research Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $450.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $525.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $436.27.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FDS traded down $5.27 on Wednesday, hitting $451.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 154,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,114. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $453.70 and a 200-day moving average of $465.25. The company has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. FactSet Research Systems has a 12-month low of $391.84 and a 12-month high of $499.87.

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

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total value of $157,443.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44 shares in the company, valued at $19,084.12. This represents a 89.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the fourth quarter worth $413,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% during the third 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 during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 4,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $164,653,000 after acquiring an additional 59,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems during the 4th quarter worth $1,481,000. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

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.