Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,239 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.8% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 5.0% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.5% in the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $574.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $580.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $531.77. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70. The stock has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 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 business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus lifted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

About MSCI

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.