Progressive Investment Management Corp Lowers Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Progressive Investment Management Corp trimmed its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 1.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,357 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. MSCI makes up 2.4% of Progressive Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Progressive Investment Management Corp’s holdings in MSCI were worth $9,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI opened at $596.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $585.01 and its 200 day moving average is $540.12. MSCI Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $631.70. The stock has a market cap of $46.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.