Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,811 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,232 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of MSCI worth $100,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in MSCI by 803.9% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $331,906,000 after purchasing an additional 522,926 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 59.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $391,008,000 after purchasing an additional 284,513 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 235,290 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 468.7% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 244,267 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $125,329,000 after purchasing an additional 201,317 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in MSCI by 14.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $749,422,000 after purchasing an additional 179,508 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Performance

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

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. 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.