MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 144.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,301 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,309 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $4,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MSCI by 21.9% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded down $3.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $563.72. The company had a trading volume of 348,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,298. The firm has a market cap of $43.62 billion, a PE ratio of 40.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50 day moving average price is $550.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $577.00. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $475.32 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. On average, analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.