Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 2,486 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,119 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,486 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $15,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in MSCI by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 37,352 shares of the technology company's stock worth $22,412,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. AKO Capital LLP lifted its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 208,903 shares of the technology company's stock worth $125,344,000 after acquiring an additional 2,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $609,937,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,319 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MSCI traded up $2.67 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $568.17. The stock had a trading volume of 142,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,516. The company has a market capitalization of $44.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $577.89 and its 200 day moving average is $588.96. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

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.