Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Makes New $1.25 Million Investment in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,210 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 16,353.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after purchasing an additional 583,986 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 61,179.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after purchasing an additional 504,732 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in MSCI by 3,881.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,662,000 after purchasing an additional 408,894 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in MSCI by 169.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSCI Stock Up 3.6%

NYSE:MSCI traded up $19.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $575.02. 672,271 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,661. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $554.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $572.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc has a 1 year low of $478.33 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid 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 yield of 1.25%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.