FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) Trading Up 5.1% – Time to Buy?

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)’s stock price was up 5.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $208.25 and last traded at $210.0620. Approximately 125,438 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 960,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FDS. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $320.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $279.85.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $218.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.41.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.09. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 30.25%. The company had revenue of $611.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $604.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.28 earnings per share. FactSet Research Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from FactSet Research Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is 28.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 5.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,727 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in FactSet Research Systems by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 972 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in FactSet Research Systems by 188.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 98 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 58.6% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 91.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FactSet Research Systems

FactSet Research Systems Inc operates as a global provider of integrated financial data and analytics to the investment community. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, the company offers a unified platform that aggregates content from thousands of sources, delivering real-time and historical market data, company fundamentals, estimates, fixed-income information and proprietary analytics to portfolio managers, research analysts, investment bankers and risk officers.

The company’s core products include the FactSet Workstation, an application offering customizable screening, charting, portfolio analysis and news; APIs and data feeds for seamless integration into proprietary systems; and cloud-based solutions for thematic research and quantitative strategies.