Headlands Technologies LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC reduced its MSCI Inc holdings by 58.7% in the first quarter, now owning 2,677 shares worth approximately $1.5 million.
• The MSCI stock received mixed ratings from analysts, with Wells Fargo lowering its price target from $578 to $533, while JPMorgan Chase increased its target from $650 to $680.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of MSCI for approximately $5.4 million, raising his ownership stake by 0.78%.

Headlands Technologies LLC cut its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 58.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,677 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,802 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $1,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $1.24 on Friday, hitting $546.73. 608,676 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,042,163. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $562.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $562.99. The company has a market cap of $42.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given 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 presently 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.