V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 52 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 458 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position 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 worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSCI opened at $572.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $44.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $601.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $586.54. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI 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.