MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by ClearAlpha Technologies LP

ClearAlpha Technologies LP lowered its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 551 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. ClearAlpha Technologies LP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 623,712 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 129.4% during the second 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 period. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 16.9% in the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,279,904,000 after acquiring an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in MSCI by 14.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after acquiring an additional 198,666 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $91,748,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $609.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 3.17 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $591.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $546.58.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

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.