HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,138 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,445 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.13% of MSCI worth $60,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth about $401,000. Centiva Capital LP increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 4,049 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $641,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $641,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.
NYSE:MSCI opened at $615.94 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $594.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $548.57. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $631.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.10.
MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $716.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.02%.
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSCI shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $631.83.
Get Our Latest Analysis on 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.
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