Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 2,722 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,584 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,722 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $525,000. Twinbeech Capital LP purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $20,582,000. Teza Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Global Advisors LLC now owns 15,047 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,028,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $658,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.36.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $559.11 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $475.32 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.77, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $550.89 and a 200-day moving average of $578.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

MSCI Company 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.