SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $97.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior target price of $93.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on SEI Investments from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of SEI Investments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.20.

SEI Investments Trading Up 0.1%

SEI Investments stock opened at $83.08 on Tuesday. SEI Investments has a 52 week low of $64.66 and a 52 week high of $93.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.62 and a current ratio of 5.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.60.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $578.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.75 million. SEI Investments had a return on equity of 30.21% and a net margin of 31.09%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SEI Investments will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, October 24th that permits the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carl Guarino sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.41, for a total transaction of $864,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,189.22. This trade represents a 38.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 24,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.87, for a total transaction of $2,003,149.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 6,942,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,465,206.44. This represents a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,770 shares of company stock worth $3,723,850. Insiders own 14.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in SEI Investments during the first quarter valued at approximately $990,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 532,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,314,000 after buying an additional 16,337 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 498,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,666,000 after buying an additional 22,296 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 21,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,916,000 after buying an additional 11,373 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in SEI Investments by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 737,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $57,232,000 after buying an additional 204,911 shares in the last quarter. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SEI Investments

SEI Investments Company is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides wealth management, retirement and investment solutions, asset management, asset administration, investment processing outsourcing solutions, financial services, and investment advisory services to its clients.