MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,133 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in MSCI by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.3 %

MSCI stock opened at $566.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $576.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.99. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

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.