1,074 Shares in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Bought by NBC Securities Inc.

NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,074 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in MSCI by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE MSCI traded up $4.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $568.66. 251,343 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,870. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $550.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $576.53. 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 $44.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

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.