Diversify Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,011 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,669 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 21.9% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,665,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 4.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,614 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 34.0% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 4.7% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,212 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,292,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $617.34 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $604.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $576.09. The stock has a market cap of $48.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

MSCI Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.