MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Holdings Lowered by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 522 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 21 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 542 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in MSCI by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 316 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $605.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $566.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.59. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $47.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.55 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.8 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Barclays raised their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.14.

MSCI Company 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.