United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,890 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 980 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $10,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 15,328 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $9,197,000 after purchasing an additional 6,952 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,566,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $803,000. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 4,285 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 stock was purchased at an average price 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 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $643.92.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded down $11.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $535.86. The company had a trading volume of 199,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 564,408. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $41.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $558.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $585.67.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.