PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,305 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $8,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the third quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the third quarter worth $30,000. American National Bank grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other MSCI news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE:MSCI opened at $490.40 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $617.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $513.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.