Greenleaf Trust Grows Position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,468 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,136,563,000 after acquiring an additional 35,094 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $920,026,000 after acquiring an additional 13,918 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $609,937,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $512,079,000 after acquiring an additional 25,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in MSCI by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 784,490 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $470,702,000 after acquiring an additional 48,524 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $530.00 to $578.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.55.

MSCI Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE MSCI opened at $582.10 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $563.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $569.76. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.74 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $45.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.32.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

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.