First Hawaiian Bank Sells 1,209 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• First Hawaiian Bank reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. by 37.4%, selling 1,209 shares during Q1, resulting in a total of 2,022 shares valued at approximately $1.14 million.
• Several hedge funds are actively trading MSCI, with notable increases in holdings from firms such as MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS, which grew its stake by 25.8% in Q4.
• MSCI announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share with an annualized yield of 1.2%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 47.68%.

First Hawaiian Bank decreased its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 37.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,022 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,209 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in MSCI were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,302,610,000 after acquiring an additional 518,833 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 355.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 660,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $365,976,000 after purchasing an additional 515,713 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 61,179.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after purchasing an additional 504,732 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in MSCI by 3,881.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in MSCI by 605,802.9% during the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 212,066 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $129,903,000 after purchasing an additional 212,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 3.0%

MSCI stock traded down $17.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $561.06. The company had a trading volume of 411,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 609,482. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $563.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $559.25.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. The trade was a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $652.45.

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.