MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,405 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 618 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $602.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $631.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $580.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $534.64.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus boosted their price objective on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.83.

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.