Moran Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 93.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,259 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 19,315 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.2% during the first quarter. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in MSCI by 8.3% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 33,010 shares of the technology company's stock worth $18,667,000 after buying an additional 2,522 shares during the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 5.6% during the first quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 23.1% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,261 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $11.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $576.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 879,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 510,585. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $555.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $571.88. The company has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $478.33 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is currently 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.