MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 5,053.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,406 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,816 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in MSCI were worth $18,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in MSCI by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of MSCI by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note 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 target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

MSCI Trading Up 1.1 %

MSCI traded up $5.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $551.98. 84,587 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,514. The firm's fifty day moving average is $552.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $582.08. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $466.36 and a 1-year high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $42.71 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

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