MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,323 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,916 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.19% of MSCI worth $88,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in MSCI by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $312,574,000 after purchasing an additional 23,050 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 339.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,642,000 after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 176.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $572.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $601.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $586.26. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 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 quarter last year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 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 increased their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Company 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.