Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,835 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in MSCI were worth $10,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 3,754 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 155,158 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $87,742,000 after buying an additional 6,835 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 37.7% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 179 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 61,179.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after acquiring an additional 504,732 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in MSCI by 147.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Down 0.6%

MSCI traded down $3.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $563.72. 328,390 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,186. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $475.32 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $550.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $577.00.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MSCI shares. Barclays decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

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.