Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Reduces Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division reduced its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,101 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in MSCI were worth $71,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,719,381 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,886,777,000 after buying an additional 36,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in MSCI by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $972,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $701,522,000 after acquiring an additional 623,712 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,323,058 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $741,508,000 after purchasing an additional 23,217 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $598.07.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI traded up $1.41 on Friday, reaching $589.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 436,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 553,005. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $560.60 and its 200 day moving average is $523.38. The stock has a market cap of $46.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. 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.