Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 16,711 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,714 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 16,711 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.23% of MSCI worth $104,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $374,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in MSCI by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 15,096 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $387,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,075 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSCI shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Up 1.2 %

MSCI stock opened at $617.18 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $595.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $550.36. The company has a market capitalization of $48.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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

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.