Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT Trims Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lessened its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,044 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT’s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $582.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $607.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $583.31. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.67 billion, a PE ratio of 41.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.23.

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.