Caxton Associates LP Invests $2.58 Million in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,291 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Down 0.3 %

MSCI traded down $1.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $556.15. 379,882 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,063. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $549.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $580.18. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $475.32 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $43.03 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

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.