MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Lowered by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 25.6% in the first quarter, leaving them with 1,411 shares valued at $777,000.
• MSCI announced a $1.80 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized amount of $7.20 and a yield of 1.32%, with an ex-dividend date on August 15.
• Wells Fargo & Company and Evercore ISI both lowered their target prices for MSCI, highlighting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts with an average target price of $650.17.

Navellier & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 25.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,411 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after purchasing an additional 583,986 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 61,179.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after purchasing an additional 504,732 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,881.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $654.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

MSCI stock traded up $3.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $546.49. The stock had a trading volume of 998,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,866. The stock has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $564.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.89.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. 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.