Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 120 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,403 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. RB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.5% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp boosted its position in MSCI by 3.4% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 141,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,258,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in MSCI by 42.2% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,237 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 6.0% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,831 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $701,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $659.00 to $648.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $581.57.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $511.83 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $451.55 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $555.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $539.07. The firm has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The company had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 EPS. MSCI’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

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.