DAVENPORT & Co LLC Has $3.48 Million Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 7.3% during the second quarter, owning 6,038 shares valued at approximately $3.48 million at quarter's end.
• MSCI Inc reported earnings of $4.17 per share in its latest quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a 9.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,038 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 473 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of MSCI by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 22,844 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,175,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,300,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 179.9% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the technology company's stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital bought a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $514,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $566.95 on Thursday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $564.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.55. The firm has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last 90 days. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of MSCI to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $649.70.

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.

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