MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 41.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 358 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 348.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in MSCI by 25.3% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 545 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth approximately $832,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,608,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,038 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,203,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought 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 owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $476.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.54, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $539.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $537.69. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

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.