MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Position Lessened by Portside Wealth Group LLC

Portside Wealth Group LLC lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,615 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 0.8% of Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in MSCI by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,192,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,860,925,000 after buying an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,862,362 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,082,594,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after acquiring an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.67.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $612.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $603.93 and a 200-day moving average of $574.07. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.