Spire Wealth Management Sells 3,636 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Spire Wealth Management lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 86.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 554 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,636 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in MSCI were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th 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. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in MSCI by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $576.90 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $556.32 and its 200 day moving average is $570.67. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $478.33 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $44.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

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.

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