Woodline Partners LP Acquires Shares of 4,739 MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,739 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,843,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth about $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $352,539,000 after purchasing an additional 583,986 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in MSCI by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $304,453,000 after purchasing an additional 319,083 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE MSCI traded down $3.58 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $563.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 359,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,775. MSCI Inc. has a 52 week low of $475.32 and a 52 week high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $43.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $550.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $578.37.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. On average, equities analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.80 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

About MSCI

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.