Allstate Corp Invests $537,000 in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $413,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% during the 3rd 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. boosted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 52.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 340,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $164,653,000 after purchasing an additional 59,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,481,000. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FDS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $409.00 to $390.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $503.00 price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded FactSet Research Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $450.00 to $402.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FactSet Research Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $436.27.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FDS opened at $456.45 on Wednesday. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $391.84 and a 52 week high of $499.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $453.70 and its 200 day moving average is $465.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.77.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The business services provider reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.17 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $570.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $570.65 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.16% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. Sell-side 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total value of $157,443.99. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,084.12. This trade represents a 89.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.