Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Trims Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,749 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 894 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $14,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in 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. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $15.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $565.12. The company had a trading volume of 635,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,166. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $564.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.73. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.74 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $651.55.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.