Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 10,154 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 349,570 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,154 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.45% of MSCI worth $209,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in MSCI by 16,353.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after acquiring an additional 583,986 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in MSCI by 169.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock traded down $11.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $559.71. The company had a trading volume of 509,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,281. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $551.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $579.16. The company has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $475.32 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.