SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Short Interest Update

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, an increase of 21.8% from the February 28th total of 2,060,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 691,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

SEI Investments Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SEIC stock opened at $77.59 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.67. SEI Investments has a 12 month low of $62.38 and a 12 month high of $87.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.94.

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.19 EPS 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, equities analysts predict that SEI Investments will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the asset manager to purchase up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SEIC. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on SEI Investments from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of SEI Investments from $84.00 to $81.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of SEI Investments in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded SEI Investments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SEI Investments news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 1,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total transaction of $104,656.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,078,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $539,963,846.24. This trade represents a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mark Andrew Warner sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $104,507. This represents a 79.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,214 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,903 over the last ninety days. 14.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SEI Investments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SEI Investments by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,580,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $212,589,000 after buying an additional 60,307 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in SEI Investments by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,306,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $107,746,000 after acquiring an additional 20,020 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew 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 worth $101,716,000 after acquiring an additional 348,112 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of SEI Investments by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,171,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $96,645,000 after purchasing an additional 46,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,068,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $88,104,000 after purchasing an additional 184,339 shares in the last quarter. 70.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.