MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 261 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 31 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SVB Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 765 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 8,254 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,669,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,478 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,533,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $297,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $2,715,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $581.57.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $505.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $451.55 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $553.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $538.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $662.64 million. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

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.