Royal Bank of Canada Sells 15,689 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,689 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.30% of FactSet Research Systems worth $54,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,128,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,368,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,096,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,411,000 after buying an additional 94,668 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,241,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 4,104.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 76,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,712,000 after purchasing an additional 74,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $409.00 to $390.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $503.00 price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $525.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded FactSet Research Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $450.00 to $402.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $436.90.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

Shares of FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $463.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.88. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $391.69 and a 52 week high of $499.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $437.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $458.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The business services provider reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.17 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $570.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $570.65 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 33.92% and a net margin of 24.16%. FactSet Research Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from FactSet Research Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total value of $157,443.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 44 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084.12. This represents a 89.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FactSet Research Systems 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.