Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 67.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,225 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 82,579 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned about 0.05% of MSCI worth $22,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in MSCI by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 78,111 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,867,000 after purchasing an additional 23,649 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 59,741 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $556,000. Finally, GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 116,611 shares of the technology company's stock worth $69,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $544.79. The stock had a trading volume of 666,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,055. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $554.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $572.67. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $478.33 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.