Sigma Planning Corp Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 41.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 358 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $476.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $539.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $537.69. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.