Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys 42,560 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 66.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,035 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,560 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.14% of MSCI worth $60,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,136,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,094 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $609,937,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $512,079,000 after purchasing an additional 25,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in MSCI by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 784,490 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $470,702,000 after purchasing an additional 48,524 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America began 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Down 2.4%

MSCI traded down $13.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $541.96. 465,518 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,514. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $553.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $575.15. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.32 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.93 billion, a PE ratio of 38.55, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. Equities analysts predict 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 dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

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.