MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,804 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,480 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of MSCI worth $73,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in MSCI by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock worth $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,642,000 after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

MSCI traded down $2.69 during trading on Thursday, hitting $590.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 499,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,670. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $606.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $581.51. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.