Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 2,116 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden reduced its MSCI stake by 12.7%, selling 2,116 shares in the third quarter and retaining 14,540 shares valued at about $7.83 million.
• Analyst sentiment remained broadly positive: MSCI had a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $683.69.
• MSCI beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 12.4% year over year; it also declared a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,540 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,116 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in MSCI were worth $7,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $1,798,710,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $480,613,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $301,493,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $257,687,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MSCI from $685.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MSCI from $685.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $615.00 price objective on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $683.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert Gutowski sold 2,381 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.66, for a total value of $1,484,934.46. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 14,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,796,100.64. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $256,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,337,080. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $640.80 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $681.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $575.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $574.97. The company has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.20.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.03 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 50.69% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $887.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.47 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.41%.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for asset managers, banks, insurers, pension funds and other financial institutions. Its offerings include indexes used to benchmark and develop investment products, as well as portfolio risk, performance and attribution analytics.

The company also provides environmental, social and governance data and research, climate-related tools, and analytics covering private assets and real estate. These products help clients assess investments, manage portfolios and evaluate risks across public and private markets.

MSCI traces its origins to Capital International, whose indexes were introduced in 1969.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.