Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc $MSCI

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,100 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in MSCI by 1.2% during the second quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 7,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,364,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 27,400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,803,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 43.2% in the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 5,453 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $623,000. Finally, Wormser Freres Gestion bought a new position in MSCI in the second quarter valued at about $145,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE MSCI opened at $546.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $564.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $559.29. MSCI Inc has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $42.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The firm had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.68%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.70.

MSCI Company 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.