Synovus Financial Corp Sells 4,730 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp significantly reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 85.1%, now holding only 827 shares valued at approximately $468,000.
• In contrast, several institutions such as Vanguard Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their holdings in MSCI, indicating continued interest from major investors.
• MSCI has seen a positive shift in analyst ratings, with most reports upgrading their ratings and price targets, indicating a moderate buy sentiment among analysts.

Synovus Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 85.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 827 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,730 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in MSCI were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in MSCI by 23.2% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 336.4% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in MSCI by 6.5% in the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $556,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 894 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $567.57. The stock had a trading volume of 498,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,100. The company's 50-day moving average price is $565.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $559.98. The company has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.73.

About MSCI

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.