Copeland Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Copeland Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,021 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $15,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its position in MSCI by 355.6% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.45.

MSCI Trading Up 1.6%

MSCI stock opened at $561.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $563.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $559.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

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.