Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 103,952 Shares of SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in SEI Investments (NASDAQ:SEIC) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,228 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 103,952 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of SEI Investments worth $16,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of SEI Investments in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 101.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 461 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 925.9% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 554 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of SEI Investments during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of SEI Investments by 16.3% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 70.59% of the company’s stock.

SEI Investments Stock Performance

SEI Investments stock opened at $83.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.81. SEI Investments has a fifty-two week low of $61.58 and a fifty-two week high of $87.25. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.98.

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

SEI Investments declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 22nd that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the asset manager to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

SEI Investments Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from SEI Investments’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a yield of 1.1%. SEI Investments’s payout ratio is 23.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Alfred P. West, Jr. sold 94,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.73, for a total value of $8,072,165.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 7,284,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $624,539,963.72. The trade was a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Hicke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 147,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,055,914.10. The trade was a 6.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 239,258 shares of company stock valued at $19,753,402 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SEI Investments from $76.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on SEI Investments from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on SEI Investments from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted 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. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.25.

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.