MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Logan Capital Management Inc.

Logan Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,774 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.3%

MSCI stock opened at $556.15 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.32 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.03 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $548.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $579.66.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

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.