HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 6.3%, holding 92,118 shares valued at approximately $52 million following the sale of 6,197 shares.
• MSCI reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $772.68 million indicating a 9.1% year-over-year growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80, representing a yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 47.68%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,118 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,197 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.12% of MSCI worth $52,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 3.1%

MSCI stock opened at $567.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $562.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.09. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.