Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Sells 2,376 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 54.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,015 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,376 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,136,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,094 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $512,079,000 after purchasing an additional 25,325 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 784,490 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $470,702,000 after purchasing an additional 48,524 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after purchasing an additional 583,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

MSCI Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of MSCI opened at $575.02 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $478.33 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $554.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $572.26. The firm has a market cap of $44.49 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 289,787 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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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