MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Holdings Decreased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,328 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,944 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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MSCI Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $569.83. 65,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 527,796. The company has a market capitalization of $44.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50-day moving average price is $580.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.71. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus 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 purchased 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is 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.