MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Position Decreased by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 562 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $620.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $604.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $577.47.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 42.02%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.85.

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.