Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lowered its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,597 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $16,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in MSCI by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 572 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,630 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,193 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $12.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $477.13. The stock had a trading volume of 439,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,459. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The firm has a market cap of $37.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $543.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $538.04.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.76 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded 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 research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $562.87.

About MSCI

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.