Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 280 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,197 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in MSCI were worth $10,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of MSCI by 92.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 120,457 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,030,000 after buying an additional 57,987 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 0.5% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,051 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,550,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 18.2% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.7% during the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,021 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $728,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $618.61 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $600.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $556.02. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.58.

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.