MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC cut its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 43.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 841 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 643 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in MSCI by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 256 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Aurora Investment Managers LLC. boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 3,754 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.2%

MSCI stock opened at $544.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $554.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $572.93. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $478.33 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. 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 research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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