Polen Capital Management LLC reduced its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,868,138 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 164,100 shares during the period. MSCI makes up about 3.3% of Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Polen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.41% of MSCI worth $1,056,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% in the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of 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, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $654.73.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSCI
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.
MSCI Price Performance
Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $566.34. 195,754 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 606,046. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $562.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $562.09. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.81 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.29.
MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.
MSCI Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.
About MSCI
(
Free Report)
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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