MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT decreased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 963 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in MSCI were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8 %

MSCI opened at $578.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $596.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $587.52.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.