New Century Financial Group LLC Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

New Century Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 562 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 52.4% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in MSCI by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,991,000 after acquiring an additional 41,346 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,642,000 after acquiring an additional 20,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $620.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $604.77 and a 200-day moving average of $577.47.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.85.

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.