Evoke Wealth LLC Sells 546 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Evoke Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,934 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 546 shares during the quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $870,627,000 after acquiring an additional 37,340 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the third quarter valued at $207,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in MSCI by 12.7% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 382 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 64,524 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,613,000 after buying an additional 9,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $565.99 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $583.99 and its 200-day moving average is $589.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.19.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.23.

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.