Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 8,900 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 12.8%, owning 60,600 shares worth approximately $34.27 million following the sale of 8,900 shares in the first quarter.
• MSCI reported a quarterly earnings of $4.17 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 9.1% year-over-year.
• Currently, 89.97% of MSCI's stock is held by institutional investors, indicating strong interest from larger financial entities.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,600 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,900 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.08% of MSCI worth $34,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after buying an additional 518,833 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company's stock worth $920,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,918 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,008,778 shares of the technology company's stock worth $570,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,846 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 804,640 shares of the technology company's stock worth $455,024,000 after purchasing an additional 20,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in MSCI by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 615,770 shares of the technology company's stock worth $348,218,000 after acquiring an additional 47,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded up $18.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $574.12. The stock had a trading volume of 919,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,592. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.02, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $559.31.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

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.