MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,447 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $13,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $605.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.43 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $588.89 and its 200 day moving average is $544.51. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.