KBC Group NV Sells 851 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Free Report) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,097 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 851 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $2,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 8,376 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 52.5% during the 4th 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. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 120,956 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,621,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 21.0% in 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 buying an additional 59,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,481,000. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FDS has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $485.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut FactSet Research Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $453.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 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 $143,819. This trade represents a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

NYSE FDS traded down $2.66 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $467.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 240,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 341,339. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $391.84 and a 52 week high of $499.87. The firm has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $475.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.12. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.16% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The business had revenue of $568.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $565.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.12 earnings per share. FactSet Research Systems's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. FactSet Research Systems's payout ratio is presently 29.82%.

FactSet Research Systems 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.