MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,248 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.83.

MSCI Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $602.64 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $580.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $534.64. 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 $47.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. 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.