Amalgamated Bank Lowers Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,438 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in MSCI by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 99,954 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,990,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $555.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $547.99 and its 200 day moving average is $521.93.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The firm had revenue of $707.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Argus upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.00.

MSCI 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.