SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Short Interest Down 16.8% in November

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, a decline of 16.8% from the November 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 658,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

SEI Investments Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of SEI Investments stock opened at $85.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.17 and a 200-day moving average of $70.66. SEI Investments has a 1-year low of $61.28 and a 1-year high of $87.25.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $534.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that SEI Investments will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. SEI Investments’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SEIC. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on SEI Investments from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.50.

Insider Transactions at SEI Investments

In related news, EVP Michael Peterson sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.59, for a total transaction of $1,864,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,835. The trade was a 79.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 5,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.23, for a total transaction of $504,032.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 7,371,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $620,903,298.06. This represents a 0.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,058 shares of company stock worth $7,245,697 over the last 90 days. 14.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SEI Investments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in SEI Investments during the 2nd quarter worth $1,434,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 9.6% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 95,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,187,000 after acquiring an additional 8,387 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in SEI Investments by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,419 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 8,094 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in SEI Investments by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 76,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,925,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in shares of SEI Investments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,701,000. Institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

SEI Investments Company 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.