Valley Forge Capital Management LP Invests $35.82 Million in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Valley Forge Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 59,700 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $35,821,000. MSCI comprises about 0.8% of Valley Forge Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Valley Forge Capital Management LP owned 0.08% of MSCI at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,309,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 7,694 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,617,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $525,000. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth $20,582,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $572.45 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $550.69 and its 200-day moving average is $579.22. The company has a market cap of $44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $475.32 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

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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