FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) Announces $1.04 Quarterly Dividend

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 1.04 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th.

FactSet Research Systems has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 26 years. FactSet Research Systems has a dividend payout ratio of 24.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect FactSet Research Systems to earn $18.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.2%.

FactSet Research Systems Stock Performance

NYSE:FDS traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $477.50. The company had a trading volume of 10,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 260,234. The firm has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $454.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.01. FactSet Research Systems has a 52 week low of $391.84 and a 52 week high of $488.64.

FactSet Research Systems (NYSE:FDS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The business services provider reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $562.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.06 million. FactSet Research Systems had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 24.38%. FactSet Research Systems’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that FactSet Research Systems will post 17.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FDS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of FactSet Research Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on FactSet Research Systems from $464.00 to $503.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $451.00 to $469.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on FactSet Research Systems from $435.00 to $503.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of FactSet Research Systems from $440.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FactSet Research Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $443.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.59, for a total transaction of $1,249,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,380,259.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Frederick Philip Snow sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.59, for a total transaction of $1,249,770.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,380,259.85. This represents a 0.00 % 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, EVP Christopher R. Ellis sold 13,952 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.15, for a total transaction of $6,364,204.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $10,726,367.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,362 shares of company stock worth $11,450,695 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

FactSet Research Systems Company 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.