Champlain Investment Partners LLC Sells 21,495 Shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 332,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,495 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in FactSet Research Systems were worth $159,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $69,128,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in FactSet Research Systems by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,096,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,411,000 after acquiring an additional 94,668 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 4,104.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 76,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,712,000 after purchasing an additional 74,620 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of FactSet Research Systems by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 456,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $219,079,000 after purchasing an additional 66,861 shares during the period. Finally, Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in FactSet Research Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,975,000. 91.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FDS shares. 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 report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $525.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $469.00 to $493.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on FactSet Research Systems from $409.00 to $390.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $436.90.

Insider Activity at FactSet Research Systems

In other FactSet Research Systems news, CAO Gregory T. Moskoff sold 363 shares of FactSet Research Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.73, for a total transaction of $157,443.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084.12. The trade was a 89.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FactSet Research Systems Price Performance

FactSet Research Systems stock opened at $428.07 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $441.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.92. FactSet Research Systems Inc. has a 52 week low of $391.69 and a 52 week high of $499.87. The stock has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.82. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The business services provider reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.17 by $0.11. FactSet Research Systems had a net margin of 24.16% and a return on equity of 33.92%. The company had revenue of $570.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $570.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.22 earnings per share. FactSet Research Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems Inc. will post 17.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FactSet Research Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. FactSet Research Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

About FactSet Research Systems

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.