Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 693 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 41.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 968 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 693 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in MSCI were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. CX Institutional bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in MSCI by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 63,594 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,972,000 after buying an additional 1,664 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $154,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,881 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,023,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.86.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $10.13 on Monday, hitting $506.02. 1,172,134 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 585,472. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $491.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $524.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.