Candriam S.C.A. Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,346 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 766 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.0% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 11,448 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,603,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after purchasing an additional 34,335 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in MSCI by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 101,762 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,690,000 after purchasing an additional 18,945 shares during the period. Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $611,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $564.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $564.47 and its 200 day moving average is $563.11. The stock has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $655.90.

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.