MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 622,859 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,580 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $352,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,260,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,159,615,000 after purchasing an additional 15,184 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,893,728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $971,634,000 after acquiring an additional 30,528 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in MSCI by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $749,422,000 after acquiring an additional 179,508 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,038,761 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $587,575,000 after acquiring an additional 44,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $492,502,000 after acquiring an additional 235,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $425.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.53.

MSCI Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $5.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $500.09. 198,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,634. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $515.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $536.86.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 121.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

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.