Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 521 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 11.8%, selling 521 shares and now holding 3,878 shares valued at approximately $2.2 million.
• MSCI's CEO, Henry A. Fernandez, acquired nearly 10,000 shares in July, boosting his ownership in the company to over $697 million.
• Wall Street analysts have shown positive sentiment towards MSCI, with several agencies increasing their price targets and maintaining a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,878 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 521 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in MSCI were worth $2,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.73 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $563.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $559.37. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $652.45.

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.

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