MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,003 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter worth $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $542.79 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $587.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $589.86.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

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.