Park Place Capital Corp Reduces Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Park Place Capital Corp lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 30.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 253 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter worth $26,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $30,000. American National Bank lifted its position in MSCI by 1,300.0% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded down $2.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $479.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 472,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,011. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $485.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $530.92. The company has a market cap of $37.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.53.

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.