Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Stock Price

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $84.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

SEIC has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James upgraded shares of SEI Investments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.20.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SEIC opened at $77.59 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.94. SEI Investments has a one year low of $62.38 and a one year high of $87.25.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SEI Investments will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 18th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to reacquire up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at SEI Investments

In related news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 72,842 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 7,160,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,868,356. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of SEI Investments stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.39, for a total value of $401,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,507. This trade represents a 79.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,903. Company insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in SEI Investments by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,580,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $212,589,000 after acquiring an additional 60,307 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of SEI Investments by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,306,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $107,746,000 after purchasing an additional 20,020 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of SEI Investments by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,233,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,716,000 after purchasing an additional 348,112 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,171,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $96,645,000 after purchasing an additional 46,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in SEI Investments by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,068,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $88,104,000 after purchasing an additional 184,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.