Evoke Wealth LLC Sells 546 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Evoke Wealth LLC cut its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,934 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 546 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $6,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Edgewood Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $185,003,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $126,082,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company's stock worth $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in MSCI by 700.4% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 186,131 shares of the technology company's stock worth $111,680,000 after purchasing an additional 162,877 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MSCI traded down $3.01 on Friday, reaching $562.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 822,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 528,769. The firm has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $581.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $588.55. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

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MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company earned $3.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.