Mather Group LLC. Sells 66 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Mather Group LLC. lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 697 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 348.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 341 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 25.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 545 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 14.6% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,608,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in MSCI by 9.4% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in MSCI by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,930 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,775,000 after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8 %

MSCI stock opened at $469.74 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $536.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.91. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $37.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The business’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $569.53.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.