Centiva Capital LP Sells 3,533 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Centiva Capital LP lessened its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 516 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,533 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in MSCI were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 293.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in MSCI by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of MSCI 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $568.76 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $548.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $579.52. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $475.32 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $44.01 billion, a PE ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

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.

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