Choreo LLC Has $1.65 Million Stock Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Choreo LLC decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,911 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 801 shares during the period. Choreo LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 50.0% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $3.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $546.49. The stock had a trading volume of 998,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,915. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.39.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. 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 research report on Friday. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $650.17.

MSCI Company 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.