MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC decreased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 41.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,262 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,789 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in MSCI by 50.0% in 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. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its stake in MSCI by 355.6% in the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in MSCI by 2,666.7% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Seaport Res Ptn raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.90.

MSCI Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $582.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $562.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $561.69.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

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.