Shell Asset Management Co. Has $833,000 Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Shell Asset Management Co. lowered its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,389 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 125.0% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 99 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $571.26 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $475.32 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $550.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $579.20.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $746.45 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

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.