HB Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

HB Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 821 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $578.21.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $557.00 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $451.55 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $565.42 and its 200 day moving average is $537.61. The company has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.07.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.