FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $279.8462.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FDS. UBS Group lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $320.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $253.00 to $217.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of FDS opened at $232.04 on Tuesday. FactSet Research Systems has a 1 year low of $185.00 and a 1 year high of $469.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $218.78 and a 200-day moving average of $245.63.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.09. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 30.25% and a net margin of 24.48%.The company had revenue of $611.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $604.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.65 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from FactSet Research Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 29.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FactSet Research Systems

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 0.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 3,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 53.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 92 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Company Profile

FactSet Research Systems Inc operates as a global provider of integrated financial data and analytics to the investment community. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, the company offers a unified platform that aggregates content from thousands of sources, delivering real-time and historical market data, company fundamentals, estimates, fixed-income information and proprietary analytics to portfolio managers, research analysts, investment bankers and risk officers.

The company’s core products include the FactSet Workstation, an application offering customizable screening, charting, portfolio analysis and news; APIs and data feeds for seamless integration into proprietary systems; and cloud-based solutions for thematic research and quantitative strategies.