SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on SEI Investments from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of SEI Investments in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised SEI Investments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.60.

SEI Investments Price Performance

NASDAQ:SEIC opened at $99.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.14. SEI Investments has a one year low of $75.08 and a one year high of $102.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 5.06 and a quick ratio of 4.40.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $641.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.35 million. SEI Investments had a net margin of 28.85% and a return on equity of 29.16%. SEI Investments’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SEI Investments will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

SEI Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 118.0%. SEI Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.75%.

Insider Activity at SEI Investments

In other SEI Investments news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 4,000 shares of SEI Investments stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.16, for a total value of $364,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,958.36. The trade was a 81.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathryn Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $910,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 77,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,092,804.81. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,332 shares of company stock worth $6,278,583. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in SEI Investments during the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in SEI Investments in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of SEI Investments by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 532 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of SEI Investments by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

Key SEI Investments News

Here are the key news stories impacting SEI Investments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SEI posted Q2 earnings of $1.66 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose to $641.6 million and sales/AUM metrics topped expectations, reinforcing the view that business momentum remains solid. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s Q2 call highlighted record growth and expanding margins, which suggests operating leverage is improving and may support earnings growth ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after earnings: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $125 with an overweight rating, and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted its target to $119 with an outperform rating, both signaling higher expectations for the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Consensus earnings estimates have been revised higher, which often supports shares when investors see improving forward fundamentals. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data showed no meaningful short position reported, so there is no clear bearish squeeze or short-selling signal driving the move. Article Title

About SEI Investments

SEI Investments Company is a global provider of asset management, investment processing, and investment operations solutions. The firm offers a range of services designed to help financial institutions, private banks, wealth managers and family offices streamline back-office functions and enhance front-office capabilities. SEI’s technology platforms support various stages of the investment lifecycle, including trade execution, performance reporting, risk analytics and client communications.

The company’s core offerings include outsourced fund administration, custody and trust services, managed account solutions, and wealth management technology.