Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 3,787 Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,249 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,787 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of MSCI worth $101,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Westwind Capital boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 1.5% during the first quarter. Westwind Capital now owns 22,473 shares of the technology company's stock worth $12,708,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in MSCI by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 19.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,073 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $1,518,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 21.2% in the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 251 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 MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

MSCI Price Performance

MSCI stock opened at $576.90 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $556.32 and a 200-day moving average of $570.67. MSCI Inc has a one year low of $478.33 and a one year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $44.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 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 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.08% and a negative return on equity of 145.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

MSCI 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.

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