Institutional ticker directory tracking stock mentions, long/short ideas, and high-conviction pitches extracted from quarterly hedge fund letters.
| Ticker | Company | Sector | Industry | Pitches | Stance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund / Manager | Thesis Excerpt | Stance | Period / Date | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Baron Partners Fund Ron Baron | “FactSet Research Systems Inc. is a leading provider of financial data, analytics, and technology solutions to investment professionals globally. The shares came under pressure as investors continued to discount the business for perceived AI disruption risk. We believe the market significantly understates FactSet's positioning as AI becomes more deeply embedded in financial workflows, and in our view, FactSet is becoming critical AI infrastructure for the industry. FactSet has grown its organic annual subscription value 7% over the past year. CEO Sanoke Viswanathan noted on the most recent earnings call that momentum has continued. AI drove meaningful client expansions, with a top 10 bank doubling its data subscriptions. The company also announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to embed Gemini AI models into its workstation. FactSet now trades at a 52% discount to its 10-year average multiple and a 68% discount to its 5-year peak multiple. Management has repurchased $163 million in the most recent quarter.” | NEUTRAL | Q2 2026 Aug 14, 2026 | View Pitch |
Jensen Investment Adam Calamar, Kurt Havnaer, Tyra Pratt | “The manager fully liquidated FDS due to structural long-term threats posed by AI-native competitors, who can access publicly available data to replicate FDS's products. Furthermore, expected employment reductions among its customer base could directly pressure FDS's seat-based subscription revenue model.” | BEAR | Q1 2026 Apr 29, 2026 | View Pitch |
Ariel Focus Fund Ariel Investments, LLC | “FactSet was added as a new position because of its deeply embedded data tools that enjoy very high customer switching costs. The manager believes market fears of AI disruption are exaggerated, arguing that FactSet will instead leverage AI to improve its internal productivity and analytics.” | BULL | Q1 2026 Mar 31, 2026 | View Pitch |
Pelican Bay Capital Management Tyler Hardt, CFA | “FactSet Research Systems is a leading financial data provider with over 45 years of consecutive revenue growth. The company benefits from a sticky subscription model with retention rates above 95% and high returns on invested capital. Shares came under pressure as banks curtailed hiring and FactSet increased investment in GenAI and cloud infrastructure, temporarily compressing margins. We believe these investments are necessary to strengthen FactSet's competitive position and will drive long-term growth. We initiated our position at what we believe is the lowest valuation multiple the stock has traded at in the past decade. BSD Analysis: FactSet Research Systems is reinforcing its bullish profitability narrative in 2026, with net margins holding firm in the mid-25% range despite rising technology costs. The company is successfully converting its data platform into bottom-line results, with earnings growth recently outpacing its five-year historical average. Bulls point to the integration of new acquisitions and the launch of GenAI tools like Pitch Creator as the primary engines for future annual subscription value growth. While technology expenses related to cloud migration are a watchpoint, FactSet's operational productivity has largely kept pace with these investments. The stock's valuation remains attractive relative to peers, trading below many fair value estimates despite its resilient competitive position. For 2026, FactSet offers a stable, cash-generative profile for investors seeking exposure to financial data and analytics.” | BULL | Q4 2025 Jan 22, 2026 | View Pitch |
Baron Partners Fund Ron Baron | “FactSet, a leading provider of investment management tools, declined due to a combination of industry-wide concerns about AI and cautious commentary from several financial data and software peers. We maintain conviction in FactSet due to the large addressable market, sticky customer base (95%-plus retention rates), consistent execution on both new product development and financial results, and robust free cash flow generation. We believe that new CEO Sanoke Viswanathan is a highly capable leader who is focused on reaccelerating growth and driving a stronger sense of urgency across the organization. A key part of Sanoke's plan is to enhance the company's product development efforts with areas of emphasis on completing the portfolio lifecycle, embedding AI functionality across the product suite, deep sector data, real-time data, and front-office capabilities like order/execution management. BSD Analysis: FactSet enters 2026 as a "Dividend Aristocrat" in the making, recently reporting a quarterly earnings beat with $4.51 EPSon revenues of $607.6 million. The company has set its FY 2026 guidance at $16.90–$17.60 EPS, supported by a newly authorized $600 million share buyback. While revenue growth is forecast at a modest 5% per annum, FactSet maintains an elite 30.5% return on equity and a net margin of 25.4%. Management is prioritizing the integration of AI-powered fixed income data and the rollout of production-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Despite a consensus "Hold" rating due to valuation concerns, the stock remains a resilient defensive play in the capital markets segment.” | BULL | Q4 2025 Dec 31, 2025 | View Pitch |
Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy Ariel Investments, LLC | “Also during the quarter, we purchased leading information services provider, FactSet Research Systems, Inc (FDS). The company's data and analytics are highly embedded into buy side and sell side workflows, creating high switching costs. Recent pressure reflects fears around artificial intelligence, which we believe are overblown. We expect FactSet's predictable and profitable profile to be enhanced by advanced features and internal efficiencies. BSD Analysis: FactSet is mission-critical financial infrastructure embedded into daily investment workflows. Switching costs are cultural as much as technical. Growth is steady, retention elite, and margins durable. Market volatility increases usage intensity. Investors compare it to flashier SaaS names and miss durability. Incremental content drives operating leverage. Capital needs are minimal. This is data toll-booth economics. Quiet compounding beats loud growth.” | BULL | Q4 2025 Dec 31, 2025 | View Pitch |
Ariel Appreciation Fund John W. Rogers | “Also during the quarter, we purchased leading information services provider to the financial services industry, FactSet Research Systems, Inc (FDS). The company's financial data and analytics are highly embedded into buy side and sell side workflows, making switching costs extremely high. Additionally, its data is aggregated and scrubbed across multiple public and private sources, making it hard to replicate and highly scalable across clients and use cases. The stock has been under extreme pressure recently as a moderating growth and margin profile have raised existential fears around artificial intelligence. Not only do we think these fears are overblown, but believe FactSet's highly predictable and profitable fundamental profile will be enhanced by more advanced features for its clients and more efficiency within the company. BSD Analysis: FactSet is a mission-critical data platform for investment professionals who value speed, accuracy, and workflow integration. Once embedded, it's rarely removed because switching costs are cultural as much as technical. Growth is steady rather than spectacular, but retention is elite. Margin expansion comes from scale and incremental content, not price gouging. Competition exists, but fragmentation actually helps FactSet differentiate on usability. Investors sometimes compare it to faster-growing SaaS names and miss the durability premium. Market volatility doesn't hurt FactSet — it increases usage intensity. Capital requirements are minimal, cash flow is strong. This is financial data compounding done quietly and very well.” | BULL | Q4 2025 Dec 31, 2025 | View Pitch |
Each excerpt above is the manager's commentary on this ticker specifically. The full letter has the rest of their portfolio thinking, risk discussion, and broader institutional context.
