Voya Investment Management LLC Purchases 158,295 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 362.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,923 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 158,295 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.26% of MSCI worth $121,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company's stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in MSCI by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

MSCI Stock Up 0.1 %

MSCI traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $541.06. 208,495 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 539,470. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $553.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $582.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $458.69 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. 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.