Flossbach Von Storch SE Reduces Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Flossbach Von Storch SE reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 215,599 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 78,373 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned about 0.28% of MSCI worth $121,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in MSCI by 16.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 64,627 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,591,000 after acquiring an additional 9,204 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $288,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 6.3% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Argentarii LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $399,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at approximately $118,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded down $0.53 during trading on Thursday, reaching $581.28. 332,330 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 509,081. The firm has a market cap of $44.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $564.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $569.59. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.74 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued 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 dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $578.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $651.55.

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.