Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 17,499 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 32.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,776 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 17,499 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in MSCI were worth $20,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $582.00 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $585.41 and its 200 day moving average is $540.42. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $631.70. The company has a market cap of $45.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.21, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

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.