Optivise Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 540 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 147.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 9,100.0% during the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 92 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $548.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $475.32 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $554.09 and a 200 day moving average of $574.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.