Edgestream Partners L.P. Buys Shares of 11,219 MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 11,219 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,344,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $425,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in MSCI by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 22,316 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $12,620,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 202.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,507 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,204,000 after acquiring an additional 9,713 shares in the last quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in MSCI by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,825 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. The trade was a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $8.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $580.78. The company had a trading volume of 647,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,467. The stock has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $565.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $568.46. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. On average, research analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSCI shares. Barclays cut 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. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $651.55.

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.