Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Stock

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on SEI Investments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

SEI Investments Price Performance

SEI Investments stock opened at $81.90 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.51. SEI Investments has a 52-week low of $61.58 and a 52-week high of $87.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.98.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.12. SEI Investments had a return on equity of 24.29% and a net margin of 26.60%. The firm had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $534.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that SEI Investments will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the asset manager to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. This represents a dividend yield of 1.1%. SEI Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 94,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.73, for a total value of $8,072,165.34. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,284,964 shares in the company, valued at $624,539,963.72. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Hicke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $749,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 147,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,055,914.10. This represents a 6.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 239,258 shares of company stock worth $19,753,402. 14.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 101.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 461 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in SEI Investments during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 925.9% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 554 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in SEI Investments during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 16.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,197 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

About SEI Investments

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.