Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 622,859 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,580 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.79% of MSCI worth $352,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,464 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. now owns 7,359 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,163,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $693,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 53,917 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,498,000 after acquiring an additional 9,109 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $5.44 on Wednesday, reaching $500.09. 198,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,634. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $515.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.86. The stock has a market cap of $39.62 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

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.