MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 22.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,140 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,781 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in MSCI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Conning Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 4.1% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.8% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 5.0% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $634.58.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $10.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $625.10. 380,860 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,320. The company has a market cap of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $599.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $554.66. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is 42.02%.

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.