MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Lowered by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 225,576 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,691 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $127,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 348.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 545 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in MSCI by 14.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,608,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 9.4% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in MSCI by 39.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,775,000 after acquiring an additional 17,400 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $1.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $468.24. The stock had a trading volume of 344,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,444. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $37.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $536.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.91.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

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.