Natixis Grows Stock Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Natixis boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 105.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,184 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,363 shares during the period. Natixis owned 0.07% of MSCI worth $33,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth $609,937,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 16,353.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,557 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $352,539,000 after acquiring an additional 583,986 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 507,413 shares of the technology company's stock worth $304,453,000 after acquiring an additional 319,083 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,003,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,082,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI traded down $1.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $531.75. 347,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 555,225. The company has a market cap of $41.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $449.00 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $556.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $584.59.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $745.83 million during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $639.00.

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.