City Holding Co. Sells 1,027 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

City Holding Co. decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 23.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,278 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,027 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Argus upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.07.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $596.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $561.43 and a 200-day moving average of $522.99. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.41 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.