Short Interest in SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Increases By 29.9%

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,260,000 shares, an increase of 29.9% from the March 15th total of 2,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 721,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on SEI Investments from $87.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of SEI Investments from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded SEI Investments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James upgraded SEI Investments from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $99.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 1,372 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total transaction of $104,656.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,078,708 shares in the company, valued at $539,963,846.24. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.39, for a total transaction of $401,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,507. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 79,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,903. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SEIC. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in SEI Investments by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of SEI Investments in the 3rd quarter valued at $374,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 320,482 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $22,799,000 after purchasing an additional 48,429 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 11,518 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of SEI Investments by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 507,916 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $35,143,000 after purchasing an additional 60,824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.59% of the company's stock.

SEI Investments Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:SEIC traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.00. 949,437 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 652,522. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.80. SEI Investments has a 12 month low of $62.38 and a 12 month high of $87.25.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.01. SEI Investments had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 27.35%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SEI Investments will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the asset manager to reacquire up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.