Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,640 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 5.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 15,959 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,943,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 4,329 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 581,558 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $325,936,000 after purchasing an additional 92,118 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at about $5,444,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 1.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 23,366 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,095,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $589.57 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70. The company has a market cap of $46.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $586.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $541.98.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

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.