MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT decreased its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,019 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in MSCI were worth $491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 672 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in MSCI by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 99,954 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $56,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,990,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus boosted their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.00.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $555.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $547.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.93. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 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.