MSCI Inc $MSCI Position Lessened by APG Asset Management N.V.

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 15.5%, owning 56,733 shares valued at approximately $29.7 million after selling 10,389 shares in the most recent quarter.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares at an average price of $544.70, increasing his ownership in the company to about 1.28 million shares worth over $697 million.
• MSCI reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.17, surpassing the consensus estimate of $4.12, with a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year.

APG Asset Management N.V. decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,733 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,389 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $29,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth $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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired 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 approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last three months. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $569.20. 512,226 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,982. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $564.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $560.24. The company has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a PE ratio of 37.70, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

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.