Independent Advisor Alliance Reduces Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 17.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 489 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in MSCI were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 30.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,748,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 207.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 29.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,302,000 after buying an additional 4,890 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $604.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $589.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $544.93. The company has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

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.