Quantinno Capital Management LP Sells 3,841 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,237 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 3,841 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 0.7% of Quantinno Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned 0.14% of MSCI worth $67,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in MSCI by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,266 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of MSCI by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 16,993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,196,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE MSCI opened at $564.15 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $475.32 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $548.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $579.41. The firm has a market cap of $43.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

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.