Copeland Capital Management LLC Trims Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,269 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 534 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $14,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,136,563,000 after buying an additional 35,094 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company's stock worth $512,079,000 after buying an additional 25,325 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in MSCI by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 784,490 shares of the technology company's stock worth $470,702,000 after buying an additional 48,524 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 590,892 shares of the technology company's stock worth $334,149,000 after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded up $11.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $576.90. The company had a trading volume of 879,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,899. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $556.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $571.13. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $478.33 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.