MML Investors Services LLC Sells 1,781 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

MML Investors Services LLC cut its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,140 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,781 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in MSCI by 92.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 120,457 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,030,000 after purchasing an additional 57,987 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 0.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,051 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,550,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 18.2% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in MSCI by 28.0% in the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,673 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in MSCI by 3.7% in the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,021 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $625.10 on Friday. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 41.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $599.91 and its 200 day moving average is $554.66.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.58.

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.