Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 802 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,316 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 802 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $30,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $2.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $612.25. 311,715 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,210. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $603.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $573.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.02%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. UBS Group reduced their target price 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 raised shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.67.

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.