MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,142 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,178 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $16,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,781 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,630 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased 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, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.53.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the acquisition, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $493.00. 482,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 827,539. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $39.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $512.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.