Bank of America Corp DE Has $274.09 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 456,802 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 173,662 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.58% of MSCI worth $274,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in MSCI by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI traded up $11.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $567.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 184,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 525,287. The stock's 50-day moving average is $548.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $579.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a PE ratio of 40.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $475.32 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

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.