SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 52,067 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 16,424.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,384 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 52,067 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.07% of MSCI worth $29,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. 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 purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in MSCI by 147.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. The trade was 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 link. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MSCI traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $554.99. 410,852 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,637. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $475.32 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $551.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $576.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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 research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.