Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,059 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 15,989 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.32% of MSCI worth $150,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in MSCI by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $576.39 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $576.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $588.91. The stock has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 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 last year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

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.