Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $501,000 in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc, buying 886 shares valued at approximately $501,000 in the first quarter.
• CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 84 shares of MSCI's stock at an average cost of $548.69 per share, increasing his ownership to over 1.2 million shares.
• MSCI recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.80, with a dividend yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 47.68%.

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 886 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in MSCI by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 9,916 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This represents a 0.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $566.48. The company had a trading volume of 362,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,038,627. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.82 billion, a PE ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI Inc has a twelve month low of $486.73 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $562.14 and its 200-day moving average is $561.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 47.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSCI. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $654.73.

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.