Metis Global Partners LLC Sells 335 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,556 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in MSCI by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $124,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,277 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in MSCI by 13,659.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,759,000 after acquiring an additional 10,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,971,000 after purchasing an additional 12,495 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com downgraded MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $569.53.

MSCI Trading Down 0.1 %

MSCI opened at $470.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $528.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $536.16. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.