Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,268 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in MSCI by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 1.0 %

MSCI stock opened at $577.72 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.09, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $604.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $585.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.