MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,049 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 19,984 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.24% of MSCI worth $105,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in MSCI by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 218,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,786,000 after buying an additional 35,277 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 13,659.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,182 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,759,000 after buying an additional 10,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 430,676 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $220,971,000 after buying an additional 12,495 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $467.60 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $534.39 and a 200-day moving average of $536.42. The company has a market capitalization of $37.04 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. 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.