MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 69.9%, selling 194,246 shares and now holding approximately 0.11% of the company, worth about $47.39 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of MSCI stock, increasing his ownership to around 1.28 million shares, valued at approximately $697 million.
• MSCI recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80, with a 1.3% dividend yield, and has seen price target adjustments from several analysts, with UBS Group setting a new target of $700.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 69.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,795 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 194,246 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of MSCI worth $47,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in MSCI by 50.0% during the 1st 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. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 in the last 90 days. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $550.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 898,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 603,677. The business's 50-day moving average is $565.70 and its 200-day moving average is $559.82. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $42.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented 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 research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.

MSCI Company 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.