FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Reduce" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $446.67.

A number of research analysts have commented on FDS shares. Bank of America lowered FactSet Research Systems from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $500.00 to $407.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $440.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $455.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FactSet Research Systems news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.59, for a total transaction of $1,249,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,380,259.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,714,960. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,571,550 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,077,267,000 after buying an additional 11,974 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,216,461 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $496,645,000 after acquiring an additional 10,928 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 53.3% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 272,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $111,447,000 after acquiring an additional 94,952 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 3.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 264,481 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $120,178,000 after purchasing an additional 9,925 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 1.4% during the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 250,028 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $102,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares during the period. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:FDS traded down $2.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $455.67. 297,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 269,750. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. FactSet Research Systems has a 52-week low of $391.84 and a 52-week high of $488.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.75. The business's fifty day moving average is $423.24 and its 200-day moving average is $428.27.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The business services provider reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.12. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.38% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The business had revenue of $562.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.16 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. FactSet Research Systems's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.37%.

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.