Teza Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Key Points

• Teza Capital Management LLC has significantly reduced its stake in MSCI Inc by 77.6%, now holding just 1,027 shares valued at approximately $581,000.
• Several other institutional investors have also adjusted their positions in MSCI, with some purchasing new stakes and others increasing their existing holdings.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on MSCI, with ten analysts rating it a "Buy" and price targets ranging from $533 to $700 per share.

Teza Capital Management LLC decreased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 77.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,027 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,549 shares during the quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA raised its holdings in MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI traded down $2.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $583.21. 482,396 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 604,619. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.34. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $563.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $559.45. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.