MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Decreased by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 15.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,639 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in MSCI were worth $955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 74.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after buying an additional 318,214 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after buying an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 358.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 133,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,900,000 after acquiring an additional 104,474 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $56,101,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $618.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $631.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $596.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $551.26.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

MSCI Company 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.