Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,615 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. American National Bank grew its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.53.

MSCI Stock Down 0.1 %

MSCI stock opened at $491.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $486.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $529.92. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

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.