Intech Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,447 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 136.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Steph & Co. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 355.6% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 82 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2,666.7% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 83 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 133.3% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 84 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MSCI from $533.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.90.

MSCI Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE MSCI opened at $559.73 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $563.81 and its 200-day moving average is $563.29. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. MSCI had a net margin of 40.03% and a negative return on equity of 110.94%. The company had revenue of $793.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.86 EPS. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MSCI 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.