Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc by 12.4%, selling 505 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 3,553 shares valued at $2,009,000.
• MSCI reported $772.68 million in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.17, beating consensus estimates by $0.05.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80, with a payout ratio of 47.68%, representing an annual yield of 1.3% to investors recorded by August 15th.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,553 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 505 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes 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. raised its position 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 last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 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 target on shares of 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, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE MSCI traded up $3.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $550.08. The company had a trading volume of 588,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 609,293. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $562.68 and a 200 day moving average of $562.63. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS 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 $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

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.