Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.50 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,564 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,844 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $606.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $582.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $536.05.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target for the company. Argus raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MSCI from $640.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $631.83.

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.