Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. Lowers Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 61.2% in the first quarter, holding a total of 741 shares worth $419,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• Institutional investors now own 89.97% of MSCI's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Vanguard Group Inc. and Principal Financial Group Inc.
• Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI to an "outperform" rating with a price target of $650, while the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $654.73.

Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 61.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 741 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,168 shares during the quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 336.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $556,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $546.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 608,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,163. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $562.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.99. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $42.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

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.