Argentarii LLC Buys Shares of 706 MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Argentarii LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 706 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the first quarter worth about $44,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $4.49 on Friday, reaching $587.34. 268,232 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 510,435. The company has a market cap of $45.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $561.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $569.92. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $486.74 and a 1 year 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 the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

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.