MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI significantly reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 48.5%, selling 95,067 shares and holding 101,081 shares worth approximately $57 million at the end of the reporting period.
• MSCI's quarterly earnings report indicated a slight beat with $4.17 EPS, surpassing the consensus estimate of $4.12, and the company experienced a 9.1% revenue growth year-over-year.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on MSCI, with a current average target price of $654.73 and many investor firms, including Vanguard and Charles Schwab, increasing their holdings in the company during the first quarter.

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 48.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,081 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 95,067 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.13% of MSCI worth $57,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last quarter. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSCI traded up $3.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $550.08. 588,011 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,040,832. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. The business's 50 day moving average is $562.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.63.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during 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 for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.