E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Trims Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 12.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,153 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter worth $34,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 98 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $556.38 on Wednesday. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The company has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.98, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $545.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.49.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.55 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The company had revenue of $707.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $696.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised MSCI to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.00.

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.