MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 605,802.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 212,066 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 212,031 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.27% of MSCI worth $129,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,428 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,960,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,404 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,243,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in MSCI by 77.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 213,423 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $128,056,000 after purchasing an additional 93,337 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded up $13.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $543.96. 1,218,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 577,514. The company has a market cap of $42.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50 day moving average is $565.50 and its 200 day moving average is $567.07. MSCI Inc has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $650.18.

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.