Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Takes $300,000 Position in SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new position in SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in SEI Investments by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,580,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $212,589,000 after acquiring an additional 60,307 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,306,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $107,746,000 after purchasing an additional 20,020 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in SEI Investments by 4.1% in 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 lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 184,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

SEI Investments Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ SEIC opened at $85.97 on Wednesday. SEI Investments has a 12 month low of $62.38 and a 12 month high of $87.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $77.47 and its 200 day moving average is $80.17.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $551.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.76 million. SEI Investments had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that SEI Investments will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 18th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the asset manager to repurchase up to 5.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.39, for a total transaction of $401,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,507. This represents a 79.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 72,842 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.45, for a total transaction of $5,787,296.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,160,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,868,356. This trade represents a 1.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 170,214 shares of company stock worth $13,925,963 in the last 90 days. 14.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on SEIC shares. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of SEI Investments in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SEI Investments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up from $77.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of SEI Investments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.60.

SEI Investments 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.