Townsquare Capital LLC Sells 1,101 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC has decreased its stake in MSCI Inc by 2.3%, selling 1,101 shares and now holding 45,774 shares valued at approximately $25.9 million.
• MSCI's recent earnings report showed a quarterly net revenue of $772.68 million, beating estimates, with earnings per share of $4.17 compared to expectations of $4.12.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.80 per share, set to be paid on August 29th, with a dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Townsquare Capital LLC trimmed its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,774 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,101 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC owned about 0.06% of MSCI worth $25,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,302,610,000 after purchasing an additional 518,833 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 61,179.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $285,892,000 after purchasing an additional 504,732 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 3,881.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in MSCI by 605,802.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 212,066 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $129,903,000 after purchasing an additional 212,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $103,424,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $546.73. The stock had a trading volume of 608,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,163. The company's fifty day moving average is $562.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.99. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MSCI. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.