MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Decreased by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 339 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in MSCI by 24.8% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 608 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 27.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,667 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $590.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $590.20. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.