Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires 1,131 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,983 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $3,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after buying an additional 583,986 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of MSCI by 169.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $304,453,000 after buying an additional 319,083 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $126,082,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE:MSCI traded up $2.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $566.28. The stock had a trading volume of 445,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 525,301. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $475.32 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock has a market cap of $43.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.28, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $548.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $579.41.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, 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.

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.