Inspire Investing LLC Reduces Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,982 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,038 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 7.1% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 316 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.14.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $605.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $566.07 and its 200 day moving average is $524.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 42.87%.

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.