Quantbot Technologies LP Reduces Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Quantbot Technologies LP reduced its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,141 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,315 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in MSCI by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $562.98 on Monday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $581.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $588.76.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

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

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.