MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 29.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,584 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,282 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in MSCI were worth $22,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank lifted its holdings in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $10.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $544.21. The stock had a trading volume of 260,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,252. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $524.47. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $43.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 139.63%. The company’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Bank of America raised shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.79.

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.