Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 8,412 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 43.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,857 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,412 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $15,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,413 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in MSCI by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,468 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in MSCI by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 64,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,591,000 after purchasing an additional 9,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $288,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Down 2.7%

MSCI opened at $565.12 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $564.68 and a 200 day moving average of $568.73. The company has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.74 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $578.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $651.55.

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.