Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 506,106 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 11,663 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.65% of MSCI worth $286,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in MSCI by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 336.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund grew its stake in MSCI by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 78,111 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,867,000 after acquiring an additional 23,649 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in MSCI by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 59,741 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,845,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $556,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $587.60. The stock had a trading volume of 373,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,889. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.46 billion, a PE ratio of 40.38, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.74 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $561.21 and its 200 day moving average is $569.71.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

About MSCI

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.