Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,679 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $30,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Capital International Investors raised its position in MSCI by 0.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $972,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,304 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $504,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,620 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 129.4% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $352,153,000 after purchasing an additional 412,389 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in MSCI by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 637,381 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $307,058,000 after purchasing an additional 25,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.8 %

MSCI stock opened at $593.86 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $583.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $537.35. The company has a market capitalization of $46.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 EPS. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.83.

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.