MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Dakota Wealth Management

Dakota Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,875 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $614.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.33, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $604.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $576.95.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.85.

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.