MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 7.0%, now holding 32,274 shares valued at approximately $18.25 million.
• MSCI reported $4.17 EPS for the most recent quarter, beating forecasts, with a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year, totaling $772.68 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $7.20 and a yield of 1.3%.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC cut its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,274 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,446 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $18,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 19,824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,894,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,850 shares of the technology company's stock worth $7,110,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 86,288 shares of the technology company's stock worth $51,774,000 after buying an additional 25,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.2%

MSCI stock opened at $566.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $562.14 and a 200-day moving average of $561.70. 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 $43.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $544.70 per share, with a total value of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSCI. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised 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. raised 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

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.

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