National Pension Service Cuts Stock Position in MSCI Inc $MSCI

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,834 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,473 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.16% of MSCI worth $65,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in MSCI by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 6,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 35,130 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $555.06 on Friday. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77. The company has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $576.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $575.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). MSCI had a negative return on equity of 55.19% and a net margin of 40.74%.The company had revenue of $867.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $742.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $760.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $709.50.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, wealth managers, banks and other financial institutions. The company is best known for its indexes, which are used to benchmark portfolios and support the design of investment products such as exchange-traded funds and other index-based strategies.

In addition to indexes covering equities, fixed income and other asset classes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management tools, performance measurement and investment data.