MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,138 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.1% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MSCI. Argus increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.00.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $566.66 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $544.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $521.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.