C WorldWide Group Holding A S Sells 77,409 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 75.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,908 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 77,409 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $578.71 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $596.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $588.40. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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.