Trillium Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Trillium Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 77.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,523 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 15,186 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $550.80 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.73 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $562.08 and its 200 day moving average is $562.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.61 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.29.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $654.73.

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.