Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, owning 227,226 shares worth approximately $131 million after selling 3,868 shares.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of MSCI stock, raising his total holdings to 1,279,951 shares valued at around $702 million.
• MSCI recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.1%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,226 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,868 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.29% of MSCI worth $131,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,843,000. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $377,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 42,188 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,313,000 after buying an additional 2,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $7,200,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $569.64. 142,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 618,521. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $562.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $558.88. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. 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%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $652.45.

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.