MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT reduced its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 963 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in MSCI were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 15.8% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 19,331.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,291,000 after buying an additional 26,097 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in MSCI by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,075 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $578.71 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $596.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $587.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.