SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Short Interest Up 29.6% in February

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, an increase of 29.6% from the February 13th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 668,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,507. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 1,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total transaction of $104,656.16. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,078,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,963,846.24. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,903. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of SEI Investments in the 4th quarter valued at about $540,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in SEI Investments by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,040 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in SEI Investments in the 4th quarter valued at about $300,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in SEI Investments in the 4th quarter valued at about $435,000. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its position in SEI Investments by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 9,126 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of SEI Investments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

NASDAQ SEIC opened at $74.95 on Wednesday. SEI Investments has a one year low of $62.38 and a one year high of $87.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.94.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 forecast that SEI Investments will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

SEI Investments declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the asset manager to repurchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board 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.