Ownership Capital B.V. Sells 32,699 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Ownership Capital B.V. lowered its stake in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 176,496 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 32,699 shares during the quarter. MSCI comprises about 4.6% of Ownership Capital B.V.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Ownership Capital B.V. owned 0.23% of MSCI worth $99,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 16,353.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after acquiring an additional 583,986 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 61,179.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $285,892,000 after acquiring an additional 504,732 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in MSCI by 3,881.3% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 419,429 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,662,000 after acquiring an additional 408,894 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in MSCI by 169.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after acquiring an additional 319,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded down $15.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $565.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 635,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,791. The firm's 50 day moving average is $564.49 and its 200 day moving average is $569.59. The company has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.32. MSCI Inc has a 52-week low of $486.74 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSCI. UBS Group upped their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $651.55.

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.