Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires New Shares in FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,868,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in FactSet Research Systems during the third quarter worth $28,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 4,300.0% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 178.0% during the third quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FDS. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Huber Research raised FactSet Research Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $372.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $307.00 target price on FactSet Research Systems and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Friday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $298.54.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FDS opened at $198.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.04. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12 month low of $185.00 and a 12 month high of $474.79.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The business services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.36 by $0.15. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 25.40%.The company had revenue of $607.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $599.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.37 EPS. FactSet Research Systems’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. FactSet Research Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.900-17.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. FactSet Research Systems’s payout ratio is 27.99%.

FactSet Research Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at FactSet Research Systems

In other news, Director Laurie Siegel sold 2,572 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.25, for a total transaction of $761,955.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,211.25. The trade was a 71.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Malcolm Frank sold 2,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.70, for a total transaction of $760,540.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,920.30. This represents a 74.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.20% 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.