Jensen Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Jensen Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 10.7%, selling 1,110 shares to hold a total of 9,240 shares worth approximately $5.22 million.
• The company's quarterly earnings results showed $4.17 earnings per share, beating analysts' expectations of $4.12, with revenue increasing by 9.1% year-over-year.
• MSCI has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Jensen Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,240 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,110 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research 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 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

MSCI Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $546.73. 608,676 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,042,163. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $563.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $563.83. The stock has a market cap of $42.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.