Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Sells 8,732 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc by 92.2%, now owning 735 shares valued at $416,000 after selling 8,732 shares in the first quarter.
• MSCI Inc reported a quarterly EPS of $4.17, surpassing estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.1% amounting to $772.68 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 92.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 735 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,732 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in MSCI were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MSCI traded down $3.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $550.65. 898,650 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,931. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $565.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $559.76. The firm has a market cap of $42.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 in the last three months. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.