Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 200 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,200 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $572.02 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.83 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $603.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $586.15.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $3.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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