Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 229 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 66.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in MSCI by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $581.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.12 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $594.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $588.93.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.