Empirical Finance LLC Reduces Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,691 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 28 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter worth $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MSCI. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $579.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a PE ratio of 41.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $605.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $585.31. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.52%.

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.