Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,840 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Fairbanks Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. American National Bank raised its position in MSCI by 1,300.0% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in MSCI by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Up 0.7 %

MSCI stock traded up $3.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $546.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 380,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 587,569. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $497.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $524.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The business had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. UBS Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.21.

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.