Axa S.A. Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Axa S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 54.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,582 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 75,193 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $30,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $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.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $567.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $552.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $521.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Argus upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.00.

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.