Raymond James Upgrades SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) to "Outperform"

Raymond James upgraded shares of SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Raymond James currently has $99.00 price target on the asset manager's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.00.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

SEI Investments stock traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $85.82. The stock had a trading volume of 617,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,351. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $83.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.89. SEI Investments has a twelve month low of $62.38 and a twelve month high of $87.25.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.02). SEI Investments had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 25.51%. Equities analysts predict that SEI Investments will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from SEI Investments's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.1%. SEI Investments's dividend payout ratio is 22.17%.

SEI Investments declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael Peterson sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.14, for a total transaction of $791,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $514,410. This trade represents a 60.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carmen Romeo sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.64, for a total transaction of $398,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,577,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $125,644,205.28. This represents a 0.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 186,194 shares of company stock worth $15,769,472 in the last quarter. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 101.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 461 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 925.9% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 554 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of SEI Investments by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 452 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of SEI Investments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of SEI Investments by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,197 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. 70.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SEI Investments Company Profile

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.