Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $1.09 Million Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,813 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in MSCI were worth $1,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $9.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $555.58. The company had a trading volume of 389,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 536,887. The company has a market capitalization of $42.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $552.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $582.08. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $458.69 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company 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 is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was 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 owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.