Sei Investments Co. Sells 12,979 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 182,337 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 12,979 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $102,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $496,541,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 803.9% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $331,906,000 after purchasing an additional 522,926 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,469,000 after purchasing an additional 246,781 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at about $114,836,000. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,725,215 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $976,009,000 after purchasing an additional 151,108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.1 %

MSCI stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $501.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 488,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 583,603. The company has a market cap of $39.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $489.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $526.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.14 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $571.20.

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.