Palisade Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,615 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS

Palisade Asset Management LLC raised its stake in FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 80.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $1,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 0.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 3,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 92 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Promus Capital LLC lifted its position in FactSet Research Systems by 2.4% in the third quarter. Promus Capital LLC now owns 1,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

Shares of FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $241.74 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $230.82 and a 200 day moving average of $243.09. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $185.00 and a 52 week high of $453.41.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $611.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $604.78 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 30.25% and a net margin of 24.48%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost 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 is Friday, May 29th. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on FDS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $300.00 to $210.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $425.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on FactSet Research Systems in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $279.62.

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.