Neuberger Berman Group LLC Sells 12,557 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Neuberger Berman Group LLC reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc by 3.1%, owning approximately 0.50% of the company, valued at about $219.99 million after selling 12,557 shares.
• MSCI reported earnings per share of $4.17 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a 9.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $772.68 million.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.3%, to be paid on August 29th to shareholders of record on August 15th.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 389,018 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 12,557 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned about 0.50% of MSCI worth $219,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $263,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,335,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 19,824 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,894,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $803,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

MSCI Stock Down 0.2%

MSCI stock traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $566.48. 362,921 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,038,627. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. The business's 50-day moving average price is $562.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $561.70.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have bought a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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.