Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Cuts Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,213 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.3 %

MSCI opened at $610.53 on Thursday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $631.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $581.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $535.52. The company has a market capitalization of $47.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

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.