Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,443 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of FactSet Research Systems worth $22,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FDS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,571,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,077,267,000 after acquiring an additional 11,974 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,216,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $496,645,000 after purchasing an additional 10,928 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 9.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 296,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $136,267,000 after buying an additional 25,294 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 274,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $126,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 1.4% in the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 250,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. 91.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $440.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $420.00 to $380.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $455.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $464.00 to $503.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $443.57.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of FDS stock opened at $490.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $459.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $432.71. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $391.84 and a 52 week high of $494.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.75.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The business services provider reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $562.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.06 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.38% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.2 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total transaction of $780,182.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,819. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider John Costigan sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.00, for a total transaction of $780,182.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,819. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher R. Ellis sold 13,952 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.15, for a total value of $6,364,204.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,726,367.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,984 shares of company stock valued at $12,230,877. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.