Palisade Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its position in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 80.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $1,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 444,058.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 13,857,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,021,376,000 after purchasing an additional 13,854,613 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 1,843.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 597,723 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $173,453,000 after purchasing an additional 566,975 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in FactSet Research Systems in the fourth quarter worth $151,492,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 490.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 581,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $168,719,000 after purchasing an additional 482,980 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 3,285.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 307,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,356,000 after purchasing an additional 298,827 shares during the period. 91.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $253.00 to $217.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $279.62.

FactSet Research Systems Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE FDS opened at $241.74 on Monday. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12 month low of $185.00 and a 12 month high of $453.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $230.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 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 firm had revenue of $611.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $604.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from FactSet Research Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is currently 29.84%.

FactSet Research Systems 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.