CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 31.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,550 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 19,597 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in MSCI were worth $24,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in MSCI by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,080 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,781 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI opened at $538.49 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $494.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $524.57.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.