MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Lifted by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 57.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,260 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,196 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 15.4% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE MSCI traded up $4.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $587.34. The company had a trading volume of 268,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,933. MSCI Inc has a fifty-two week low of $486.74 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $561.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $570.12.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.