Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 8,741 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,928 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,741 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.18% of MSCI worth $84,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgewood Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after buying an additional 318,214 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in MSCI by 14.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after acquiring an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 129.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,153,000 after purchasing an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.83.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $592.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $586.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $543.26. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. MSCI’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

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.