Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Holdings in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,580 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in MSCI were worth $7,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in MSCI by 5,600.0% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in MSCI by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the technology company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 13,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $465.92 per share, with a total value of $6,056,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares in the company, valued at $152,579,015.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, with a total value of $3,445,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $570.53.

MSCI Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $2.52 on Tuesday, reaching $488.09. The company had a trading volume of 738,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,216. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. MSCI Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.95 and a 52-week high of $617.39. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $522.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $536.07.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI's payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

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.