FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Short Interest Down 7.7% in December

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,160,000 shares, a decrease of 7.7% from the November 30th total of 2,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 256,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at FactSet Research Systems

In other FactSet Research Systems news, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total value of $780,182.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 299 shares in the company, valued at $143,819. The trade was a 84.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in FactSet Research Systems by 2,873.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 119,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,822,000 after purchasing an additional 115,561 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $38,909,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 493,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $226,867,000 after buying an additional 52,741 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,932,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $888,603,000 after acquiring an additional 42,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 235,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $96,113,000 after buying an additional 41,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FDS traded down $2.40 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $480.28. The company had a trading volume of 159,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,566. FactSet Research Systems has a 12 month low of $391.84 and a 12 month high of $499.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $480.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $447.47.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.25 by $0.12. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 24.38%. The business had revenue of $568.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $565.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.2 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is 29.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FDS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $485.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $373.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $453.46.

FactSet Research Systems Company 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.