Simplicity Solutions LLC Grows Holdings in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 714 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,298,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,866,025,000 after purchasing an additional 52,604 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,751,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,203,163,000 after purchasing an additional 8,862 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,988,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $863,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32,550 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 100.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,396,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,515,000 after purchasing an additional 698,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,078,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $447,561,000 after purchasing an additional 8,564 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.10, for a total value of $1,356,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,838,871.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FDS. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $469.00 target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $464.00 price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective (down previously from $480.00) on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FactSet Research Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $442.70.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

NYSE FDS opened at $434.21 on Friday. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $380.96 and a 52 week high of $488.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $454.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.78.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The business services provider reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.83 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $545.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.93 million. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 22.72% and a return on equity of 34.36%. Analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.04%.

FactSet Research Systems Company 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.