Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Has $7.98 Million Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,102 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. MSCI makes up about 1.1% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $7,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of MSCI by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 623 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,123 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,391 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 791 shares of the technology company's stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $578.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $651.55.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded up $8.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $580.78. 647,016 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,893. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.74 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $565.83 and a 200 day moving average of $568.46. The firm has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.32.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. Sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

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.