MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Position Reduced by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp cut its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,136 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,344 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $14,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 14.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,775,000 after acquiring an additional 17,400 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $268,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic lowered MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $569.53.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $467.04. The stock had a trading volume of 826,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,270. The firm has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $532.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its 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 121.86%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Company 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.