TCW Group Inc. Has $7.30 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. has reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. by 6.6%, owning 12,916 shares valued at approximately $7.3 million after selling 908 shares in the first quarter.
• The company's COO, Cd Baer Pettit, sold 5,000 shares for about $2.76 million, reducing his position by 1.7% to a total of 289,787 shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for MSCI, with target prices ranging from $533 to $700, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $654.73.

TCW Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,916 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 908 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:MSCI traded up $10.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $569.35. 417,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 593,747. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $486.73 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $563.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.63.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

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.