Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 165,236 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,067,120 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 165,236 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.38% of MSCI worth $603,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,469 shares of the technology company's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the technology company's stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth $6,344,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth $425,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 1.5%

MSCI traded up $8.65 on Thursday, hitting $580.78. The company had a trading volume of 647,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,467. The company has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.74 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $565.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.46.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. UBS Group increased their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment 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, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $651.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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.