UPDATE: Raymond James Upgrades FactSet Research Systems to Market Perform as Buy-Side Hiring Accelerates

In a report published Thursday, Raymond James analyst Patrick O'Shaughnessy upgraded the rating on FactSet Research Systems FDS from Underperform to Market Perform. In the report, Raymond James noted, “We are upgrading FactSet to Market Perform from Underperform. While we still have our concerns about an increasingly difficult competitive environment, we believe a recent acceleration in buy-side hiring will be a tailwind for FactSet. In addition, the premium at which FactSet has recently traded relative to its closest publicly traded comps has essentially disappeared and, as a result, the firm no longer stands out as relatively overvalued.” FactSet Research Systems closed on Wednesday at $110.92.