Amundi Sells 34,437 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Amundi lowered its stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 548,718 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 34,437 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in MSCI were worth $319,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 890,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $513,370,000 after purchasing an additional 94,466 shares in the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,806,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd increased its position in shares of MSCI by 158.9% during the second quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 4,971 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051 shares in the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel purchased a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $355,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in MSCI by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,785 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.7%

MSCI opened at $537.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $560.16 and its 200 day moving average is $562.69. The company has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 624 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.42, for a total transaction of $348,454.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 15,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,904,006.90. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MSCI. UBS Group increased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.90.

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.