Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Reduces Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,605 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,256 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $16,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $617.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $594.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $548.99. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $631.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.83.

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.