NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Invests $678,000 in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,199 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $678,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth 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 period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 147.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Up 1.3%

MSCI stock traded up $7.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $549.75. The company had a trading volume of 66,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,776. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.32 and a 52-week high of $642.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $553.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $574.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.09, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, 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. 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.