Strategic Global Advisors LLC Has $9.03 Million Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,047 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the quarter. MSCI makes up approximately 1.7% of Strategic Global Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Strategic Global Advisors LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $9,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 125.0% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 99 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded down $4.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $559.02. 61,973 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 560,413. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $551.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $578.85. The company has a market cap of $43.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.32 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.