MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. by 16.3%, owning 156,745 shares after selling 30,466 shares in the 1st quarter.
• MSCI reported earnings of $4.17 per share, beating analyst estimates, with a revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, up 9.1% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.29%, with a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,745 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 30,466 shares during the quarter. MSCI comprises about 4.3% of Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. owned about 0.20% of MSCI worth $88,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSCI. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $4.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $557.28. 1,052,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 893,470. The firm has a market cap of $43.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $563.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.49.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 over the last 90 days. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.