California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,429 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,625 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of MSCI worth $79,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in MSCI by 5,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in MSCI by 105.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 80 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $464.81 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $545.76 and a 200 day moving average of $538.56.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 111.33%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.14 EPS. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $562.87.

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.