Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 18,691 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 225,576 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 18,691 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.29% of MSCI worth $127,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in MSCI by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,630 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,193 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded down $1.79 on Thursday, hitting $468.24. The company had a trading volume of 344,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,444. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $536.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $536.91. The company has a market capitalization of $37.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.