Vanderbilt University Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Vanderbilt University trimmed its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,378 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 666 shares during the period. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of 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 shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $581.98 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $606.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $584.53. The company has a market capitalization of $45.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.52%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.