Hsbc Holdings PLC Reduces Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,916 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 22,614 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.29% of MSCI worth $111,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Argus increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.00.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $551.71 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.71 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $546.76 and a 200-day moving average of $521.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

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.