Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 2,955 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,188 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,955 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.05% of MSCI worth $25,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in MSCI by 4.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $312,574,000 after buying an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC increased its position in MSCI by 3,581.3% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,795,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund grew its holdings in MSCI by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 78,111 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,867,000 after buying an additional 23,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth about $278,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $3.47 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $563.57. The company had a trading volume of 435,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,943. The stock has a market cap of $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.08, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $551.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $579.02. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $475.32 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

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.