Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 4,600 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,500 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of MSCI worth $41,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSCI. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 21.9% during 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $541.07. 199,339 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 539,426. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $458.69 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $553.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $582.76. The company has a market cap of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 research analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. MSCI's payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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 decreased their price target on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

MSCI Company 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.