SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Short Interest Up 22.4% in December

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the November 30th total of 1,340,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 684,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

SEI Investments Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ SEIC traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.48. The company had a trading volume of 622,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,070. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.03. The company has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.98. SEI Investments has a twelve month low of $61.58 and a twelve month high of $87.25.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.08 million. SEI Investments had a net margin of 26.60% and a return on equity of 24.29%. SEI Investments’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SEI Investments will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. This represents a yield of 1.1%. SEI Investments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.67%.

SEI Investments declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the asset manager to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Peterson sold 25,000 shares of SEI Investments stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.59, for a total transaction of $1,864,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,835. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 52,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.23, for a total value of $4,435,539.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 7,232,922 shares in the company, valued at $616,461,942.06. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 239,258 shares of company stock worth $19,753,402. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SEI Investments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SEIC. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 9.6% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 95,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,187,000 after buying an additional 8,387 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 8,094 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in SEI Investments by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 76,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,925,000 after acquiring an additional 8,243 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in SEI Investments in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,701,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in SEI Investments by 56.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,591 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the last quarter. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SEIC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of SEI Investments from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on SEI Investments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SEI Investments currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.25.

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.