Millennium Management LLC Has $139.56 Million Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Millennium Management LLC trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 289,695 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 214,861 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $139,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,886,777,000 after buying an additional 36,043 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $972,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after purchasing an additional 623,712 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.8% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,323,058 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $741,508,000 after purchasing an additional 23,217 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $576.10 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $553.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $522.22. The firm has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.