MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,875 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $11,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $578.71 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $596.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $587.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.21%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Barclays decreased their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

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.