Covestor Ltd Acquires 140 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 388.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 176 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $99,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. American National Bank lifted its stake in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $10.80 on Wednesday, reaching $535.21. The company had a trading volume of 253,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 588,630. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.40 billion, a PE ratio of 36.51, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $493.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.40.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.79.

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.