SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) shares saw strong trading volume on Friday . 318,265 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 513,192 shares.The stock last traded at $84.26 and had previously closed at $84.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SEIC. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on SEI Investments from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.75.

SEI Investments Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.04. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. SEI Investments’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. SEI Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.67%.

SEI Investments declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Philip Mccabe sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $797,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,544 shares in the company, valued at $3,305,425.04. This trade represents a 19.43 % 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, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 19,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.49, for a total value of $1,568,134.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,377,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $608,570,469.94. The trade was a 0.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 204,258 shares of company stock valued at $17,139,652 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SEI Investments

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Great Diamond Partners LLC purchased a new stake in SEI Investments during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in SEI Investments by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 31,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,566,000 after acquiring an additional 10,465 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 101,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,337,000 after purchasing an additional 36,206 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 367,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.