Eagle Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 33.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,325 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 90,976 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.23% of MSCI worth $106,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $701,522,000 after acquiring an additional 623,712 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 129.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,153,000 after acquiring an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $925,531,000 after acquiring an additional 198,666 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $91,748,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth $75,957,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $581.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $585.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $540.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Argus lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with 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 “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

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.