E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Sells 158 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) by 45.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 192 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 147.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $555.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 1-year low of $478.33 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $554.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $572.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

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.