3. "PR,DIR,COO" sold 25,000 shares, worth $1.2 million.

approved an 11 percent increase in the regular quarterly dividend.

In one case, their confidence comes from familiarity. They use the analytic products of FactSet Research Systems (FDS) every day because -- after trying Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters -- they consider them the best for traditional long-only asset managers. The company aggregates information from various vendors, but makes it easy to merge it all with other portfolio applications, says Weber. He isn't concerned that brokers and marginal hedge funds may disappear. They aren't FactSet's core customer, Wallis says, pointing out that the main clients are money managers like themselves who can cut costs by consolidating with one provider. The small-cap fund started buying FDS at 37.76; it recently traded at 38.94. Wall Street pegs profit at $2.81 for fiscal '09 and $3.04 in '10.

Hold - Price 60.17 on Sept. 10
by Needham & Co.

We prefer FactSet's application suite to competitive offerings from Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. But our concern lies with the fact that 21% of FactSet's [annualized subscription value] is generated by sell-side financial institutions, [which] we believe will continue to face a challenging economic environment. Price/long-term revenue, 5.7 times. Market cap: $3 billion.

50%

good long term quality

While buybacks are not always a positive sign, continued buybacks signal that the company truly believes its stock has value. If you are looking for a tip-off from a creditable source, continued repurchase authorizations could well serve the purpose. FactSet Research Systems has recently raised its buyback plan.

FactSet has been continuously buying back its shares. In the latest authorization, its board has approved an expansion of $125 million. Earlier this month, the company completed the repurchase of shares worth $100 million, the buyback expansion approved in March 2007. FactSet said it would buy back shares using existing and future cash generated by operations.

The company achieved robust growth in the fiscal first quarter ended Nov. 30. Revenue climbed 23.2% year-over-year to $134.2 million, and net income grew 23.4% to $29.4 million, or 58 cents a share. These results were achieved against the backdrop of the financial market turmoil. Despite clients becoming more cautious regarding their spending budgets, FactSet achieved an increase in subscriptions of $24.3 million during the quarter.

The company's main product offering is the Portfolio Manager Workstation, which has a solid client base. Once a user gets comfortable with this proprietary system, he becomes reluctant to make a switch. Since there is a learning curve involved, switching costs discourage customers from moving away from this platform. The PMW has been instrumental in helping FactSet maintain a very high client retention rate and an organic growth rate of around 20% and to generate robust cash flows.

FactSet projected revenues of between $137 million and $141 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2008. The company has been acquiring data providers to reduce its dependency on data vendors. It has also been increasing its overseas footprint. Earlier this month, Matrix Research upgraded its rating for FactSet from hold to buy. Zacks senior services sector analyst Steve Biggs reiterated a buy rating for the company, saying, "We expect the company to continue posting solid results over the next several quarters, with the potential for upside to our estimates."

The continued buyback indicates that FactSet sees value in its shares. The company is likely to continue to deliver healthy results based on its high client retention, strategic acquisitions and expanding international exposure. FactSet has a healthy balance sheet and has an return on equity of 28.45%.

Despite these positives, its shares are trading significantly below their 52-week high of $73.99. I believe this is the right time to invest in a company with such healthy fundamentals and bright prospects.

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growth

FactSet Research Systems Inc. combines integrated financial information, analytical applications, and client service to enhance the workflow and productivity of the global investment community

horrible