MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Purchased by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,798 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,319 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.22% of MSCI worth $102,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $550.23 on Tuesday. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $468.43 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $551.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $580.93. The firm has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. On average, research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related 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 value 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 approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

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.

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