MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 34.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,801 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 41,072 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in MSCI were worth $45,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 74.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,456,194 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $701,522,000 after buying an additional 623,712 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 129.4% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 730,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $352,153,000 after acquiring an additional 412,389 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,195,639 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,279,904,000 after purchasing an additional 318,214 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,587,723 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $925,531,000 after purchasing an additional 198,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $91,748,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $592.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $586.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $543.26. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. 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 1.08%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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 began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, 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. Seven equities 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, 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.