Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 256 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,609 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $2,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSCI. UBS Group cut their price target on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.83.

MSCI Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE MSCI opened at $601.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.18 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $587.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $544.08.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

About MSCI

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.