Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $1.27 Million Investment in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,237 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,265,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 15.4% during the first 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. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 3.8% in the first quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 540 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in MSCI by 5.9% during the first quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 361 shares of the technology company's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI traded up $3.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $546.49. 998,785 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 729,915. MSCI Inc has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.32. The business's 50-day moving average price is $564.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $566.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSCI shares. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $650.17.

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.