Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $7.20 Million Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $7,200,000. MSCI makes up approximately 1.2% of Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the technology company's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in MSCI by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 256 shares of the technology company's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded up $7.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $566.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 433,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,396. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $475.32 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $550.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $578.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.29, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

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 $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

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.