FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) Trading Up 6.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) rose 6.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $221.47 and last traded at $222.8930. Approximately 116,147 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 954,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FDS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “sell” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $267.69.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Up 9.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.71. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $230.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.53.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The business services provider reported $4.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $604.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is presently 29.84%.

Institutional Trading of FactSet Research Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDS. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new position in FactSet Research Systems during the first quarter worth $3,611,000. Regents of The University of California lifted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 118.2% in the first quarter. Regents of The University of California now owns 226,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after buying an additional 122,611 shares during the period. Summitry LLC acquired a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the first quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 33.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 842,715 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $182,861,000 after buying an additional 212,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

About FactSet Research Systems

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.