MSCI Inc $MSCI Stock Position Reduced by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 925 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 136.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Steph & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA raised its position in shares of MSCI by 355.6% during the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 1.6%

MSCI opened at $558.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $43.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $564.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $559.49. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.MSCI’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.68%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. This represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. UBS Group increased their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.70.

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.