MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Position Lessened by abrdn plc

abrdn plc decreased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 25.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,115 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 23,788 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in MSCI were worth $42,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in 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. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $581.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $606.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $584.53. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 45.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI 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.