Entropy Technologies LP Sells 1,915 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Entropy Technologies LP lessened its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 74.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 660 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,915 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in MSCI were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 753 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 10.5% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in MSCI by 11.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,853 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,815 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.1% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,267 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.90.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $562.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $562.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $563.58. The stock has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.34. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.73 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.