MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Acquired by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,322 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $6,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,136,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,094 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company's stock worth $967,820,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company's stock worth $689,180,000 after acquiring an additional 49,679 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $512,079,000 after acquiring an additional 25,325 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $3.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $563.57. The stock had a trading volume of 435,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,943. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $475.32 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The business's fifty day moving average is $551.37 and its 200-day moving average is $579.02.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. On average, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently 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.