SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 22.4% from the November 30th total of 1,340,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 684,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SEIC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on SEI Investments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, SEI Investments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.25.

SEI Investments Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SEIC traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $82.48. The stock had a trading volume of 622,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,070. The company has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.03. SEI Investments has a 12 month low of $61.58 and a 12 month high of $87.25.

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

SEI Investments declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the asset manager to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. This represents a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. SEI Investments’s payout ratio is currently 23.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SEI Investments

In related news, CEO Ryan Hicke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $749,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 147,609 shares in the company, valued at $11,055,914.10. This represents a 6.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Peterson sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $484,835. This represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 239,258 shares of company stock worth $19,753,402. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SEI Investments

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SEIC. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in SEI Investments during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 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 purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in SEI Investments by 925.9% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 554 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in SEI Investments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in SEI Investments by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,197 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $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.