Cambridge Financial Group Inc. Sells 527 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,458 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 527 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for about 3.5% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cambridge Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MSCI were worth $7,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $2,162,000. TCG Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $16,406,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,984 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,910,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total transaction of $4,245,210.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott A. Crum sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.69, for a total value of $4,245,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,052,254.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $569.53.

MSCI Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $467.04. The company had a trading volume of 826,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 922,270. The firm has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $532.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $536.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.