New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 12,753 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 17.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,714 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 12,753 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of MSCI worth $34,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,886,777,000 after purchasing an additional 36,043 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in MSCI by 0.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $972,111,000 after buying an additional 9,304 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 74.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company's stock worth $701,522,000 after buying an additional 623,712 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.8% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,323,058 shares of the technology company's stock worth $741,508,000 after acquiring an additional 23,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $504,855,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE MSCI traded up $6.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $577.95. The company had a trading volume of 369,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,939. The stock has a market cap of $45.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $580.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $530.33. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.91 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is 42.02%.

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.