Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 125,926 Shares of SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,926 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of SEI Investments worth $36,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its position in SEI Investments by 249.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 885,113 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,241,000 after buying an additional 632,024 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the 4th quarter worth about $48,009,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SEI Investments during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,548,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SEI Investments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,702,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in SEI Investments by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,520,430 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $174,092,000 after purchasing an additional 300,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SEIC shares. Raymond James raised shares of SEI Investments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on SEI Investments from $84.00 to $81.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at SEI Investments

In related news, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.39, for a total transaction of $401,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $104,507. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 72,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.45, for a total transaction of $5,787,296.90. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,160,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,868,356. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,903 in the last 90 days. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

NASDAQ SEIC opened at $69.02 on Friday. SEI Investments has a twelve month low of $62.38 and a twelve month high of $87.25. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.72.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.02). SEI Investments had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 27.35%. Research analysts forecast that SEI Investments will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 18th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the asset manager to reacquire up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.