Essential Partners LLC Sells 1,531 Shares of MSCI Inc $MSCI

Essential Partners LLC reduced its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 52.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,405 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,531 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 341.7% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 53 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $575.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $596.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $576.63. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $870.71 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th 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 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is presently 44.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group set a $615.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $709.50.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.