Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 25,741 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 42.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,288 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,741 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.11% of MSCI worth $51,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 16,353.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after purchasing an additional 583,986 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of MSCI by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $126,082,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Price Performance

Shares of MSCI traded up $3.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $536.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 206,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,491. The company has a market cap of $41.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $556.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $584.59. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $458.69 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $639.00.

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.