V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 52 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 458 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $572.78 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $601.53 and its 200 day moving average is $586.54.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

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.