FactSet Research Systems Inc. $FDS Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 1,221.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 160,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,301 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $45,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 39.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 683,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $305,558,000 after buying an additional 192,448 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 159.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 272,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,079,000 after buying an additional 167,424 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 2.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,932,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,413,078,000 after acquiring an additional 107,184 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in FactSet Research Systems by 7,507.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 107,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,689,000 after acquiring an additional 105,711 shares during the period. Finally, Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA bought a new stake in FactSet Research Systems in the third quarter worth about $28,320,000. Institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FDS. Bank of America started coverage on shares of FactSet Research Systems in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 research note on Friday, December 19th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $320.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Huber Research raised shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $307.00 price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FactSet Research Systems has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $291.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laurie Siegel sold 2,572 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.25, for a total value of $761,955.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,037 shares in the company, valued at $307,211.25. This represents a 71.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Malcolm Frank sold 2,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,920.30. This trade represents a 74.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

FDS opened at $205.35 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $243.06 and a 200-day moving average of $279.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.75. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 12-month low of $185.00 and a 12-month high of $474.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.36 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $607.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $599.69 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 25.40%.FactSet Research Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.37 earnings per share. FactSet Research Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.900-17.600 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. 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 share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.