Prudential PLC Sells 5,992 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Prudential PLC lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 37.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,092 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 5,992 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $4,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $496,541,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $701,522,000 after purchasing an additional 623,712 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 129.4% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,153,000 after buying an additional 412,389 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in MSCI by 3,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $143,469,000 after buying an additional 246,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $114,836,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $584.79.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, hitting $562.00. 409,725 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 563,450. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $538.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $521.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

MSCI 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.