MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 131,033 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 40,254 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $74,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $434,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in MSCI by 19.2% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 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 valued at $220,971,000 after buying an additional 12,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10,108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Edward Jones assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $581.57.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $505.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $451.55 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $553.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $538.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The firm had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.