Ethic Inc. Grows Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,397 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 644 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $4,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,136,563,000 after acquiring an additional 35,094 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MSCI by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,613,005 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $967,820,000 after purchasing an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in MSCI by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,148,615 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $689,180,000 after acquiring an additional 49,679 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $609,937,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in MSCI by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 853,452 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $512,079,000 after acquiring an additional 25,325 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $2.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $566.28. 445,153 shares of the company were exchanged, 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 capitalization of $43.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.28, a P/E/G 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 posted 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 analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.