Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Sells 186 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,426 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded MSCI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $525.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.53.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $503.83 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $514.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $536.63. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The company has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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

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.