MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,894 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $562.01 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $590.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $590.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.