9,338 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Bought by Unio Capital LLC

Unio Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,338 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,603,000. MSCI accounts for approximately 2.0% of Unio Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,136,563,000 after buying an additional 35,094 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company's stock worth $967,820,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company's stock worth $689,180,000 after purchasing an additional 49,679 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $512,079,000 after purchasing an additional 25,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

MSCI Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $572.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $550.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $579.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G 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 released 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. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About MSCI

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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