Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Reduces Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 339 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

MSCI Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $562.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $590.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $590.20. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

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.