SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $73.00, but opened at $75.92. SEI Investments shares last traded at $77.53, with a volume of 254,059 shares trading hands.

The asset manager reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $551.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.76 million. SEI Investments had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 27.35%.

SEI Investments declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 18th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the asset manager to repurchase up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SEIC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on SEI Investments from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $77.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of SEI Investments in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at SEI Investments

In other SEI Investments news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.39, for a total value of $401,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,507. The trade was a 79.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 1,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total value of $104,656.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 7,078,708 shares in the company, valued at $539,963,846.24. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,214 shares of company stock worth $6,293,903 over the last ninety days. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SEI Investments by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,580,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $212,589,000 after buying an additional 60,307 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,325,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $102,897,000 after purchasing an additional 19,150 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in SEI Investments by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,233,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $101,716,000 after purchasing an additional 348,112 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,171,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $96,645,000 after purchasing an additional 46,425 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of SEI Investments by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,068,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $88,104,000 after buying an additional 184,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

SEI Investments Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.86.

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.