Bell Asset Management Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,067 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the period. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $507.57 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $572.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $588.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $647.31.

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.