SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $84.75 and last traded at $84.45, with a volume of 126760 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SEIC. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of SEI Investments from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on SEI Investments from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on SEI Investments from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SEI Investments has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.50.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.29. The firm has a market cap of $11.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.98.

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

SEI Investments announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the asset manager to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SEI Investments

In other news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 19,010 shares of SEI Investments stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.49, for a total transaction of $1,568,134.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Peterson sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,835. This represents a 79.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,058 shares of company stock worth $7,245,697 over the last 90 days. 14.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SEI Investments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEIC. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of SEI Investments during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in SEI Investments by 101.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in SEI Investments by 925.9% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in SEI Investments in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of SEI Investments by 16.3% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.