Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 608 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,750 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 608 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bamco Inc. NY grew its position in MSCI by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,260,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,159,615,000 after purchasing an additional 15,184 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,893,728 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $971,634,000 after purchasing an additional 30,528 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 14.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $749,422,000 after buying an additional 179,508 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 32.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $492,502,000 after buying an additional 235,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in MSCI by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 767,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $393,686,000 after buying an additional 7,183 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $562.87.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $13.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $477.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,040,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,208. The business’s 50 day moving average is $541.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $537.90. The firm has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.