Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Sells 937 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,479 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 937 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $30,000. American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Down 1.0 %

MSCI opened at $481.75 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The company has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $530.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction 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 $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.53.

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.