Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases 2,551 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,412 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.1% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.8% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5.0% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 1.1 %

MSCI traded down $6.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $611.50. The company had a trading volume of 463,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,907. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $47.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $600.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $556.02.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $634.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.