Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,049 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,602 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.34% of MSCI worth $160,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in MSCI by 5,053.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 30,406 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,244,000 after acquiring an additional 29,816 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 553 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 134,850 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,911,000 after buying an additional 38,610 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in MSCI by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 86,288 shares of the technology company's stock worth $51,774,000 after buying an additional 25,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,850 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,110,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $4.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $544.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 600,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,434. The company has a market cap of $42.16 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $552.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $582.50. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $458.69 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.