MSCI Inc $MSCI Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 50.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,900 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 11,278 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in MSCI were worth $5,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 280,912 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $151,401,000 after acquiring an additional 5,469 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden grew its position in shares of MSCI by 477.6% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 15,480 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,669,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,069,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,644,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $8,118,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, General Counsel Robert J. Gutowski sold 2,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $623.66, for a total value of $1,484,934.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 14,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,796,100.64. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $256,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,337,080. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI opened at $640.80 on Monday. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $681.04. The company has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $575.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $574.97.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $887.83 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 50.69% and a net margin of 40.31%. MSCI’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.59 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 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair set a $680.00 price target on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. UBS Group set a $615.00 price target on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MSCI from $685.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $684.00 price objective (down from $704.00) on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $683.69.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for asset managers, banks, insurers, pension funds and other financial institutions. Its offerings include indexes used to benchmark and develop investment products, as well as portfolio risk, performance and attribution analytics.

The company also provides environmental, social and governance data and research, climate-related tools, and analytics covering private assets and real estate. These products help clients assess investments, manage portfolios and evaluate risks across public and private markets.

MSCI traces its origins to Capital International, whose indexes were introduced in 1969.