Diversified Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,820 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 17.1% in the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 528 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.6% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 56,967 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,215,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 16.9% in the first quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 856 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 336.4% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 0.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 590,892 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $334,149,000 after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $576.90 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $556.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $571.53. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $478.33 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.65, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $746.45 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.36.

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.