MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service raised its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 154,239 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in MSCI were worth $87,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $569.53.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI traded up $8.42 during trading on Thursday, hitting $479.17. The stock had a trading volume of 363,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,630. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $528.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.16. The company has a market capitalization of $37.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.09.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

MSCI 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.