Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 4.4% in the first quarter, owning 400,781 shares worth $226.64 million.
• MSCI declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, which represents a dividend yield of 1.32% and will be paid on August 29th to shareholders of record as of August 15th.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $4.17 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.1% to $772.68 million.

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 400,781 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 18,648 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.52% of MSCI worth $226,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 336.4% in the first 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 during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted 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 valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 59,741 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,845,000 after buying an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $556,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $9.08 on Thursday, hitting $568.23. 461,988 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 594,184. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $563.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.63.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

MSCI Company 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.