34,303 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Purchased by Twinbeech Capital LP

Twinbeech Capital LP purchased a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 34,303 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $20,582,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

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

MSCI Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $571.26 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $550.12 and a 200 day moving average of $579.26. The company has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $475.32 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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