Ellevest Inc. Sells 72 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Ellevest Inc. reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,127 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $556.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $43.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.56, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $475.32 and a one year high of $642.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $548.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $579.85.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.36.

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.