MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Holdings Reduced by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,511 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 439 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $3,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 10.3% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the technology company's stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in MSCI by 6.3% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,711 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 29.4% during the first quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd now owns 87,989 shares of the technology company's stock worth $49,758,000 after purchasing an additional 19,970 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 59.9% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 47,204 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,694,000 after purchasing an additional 17,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the first quarter worth about $203,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

MSCI stock traded up $4.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $587.34. The stock had a trading volume of 268,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 510,435. The stock has a market cap of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.74 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $561.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.92.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. 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 that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

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.