Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its holdings in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,051 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 4,322 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.32% of MSCI worth $148,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in MSCI by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly 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. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8 %

MSCI traded up $4.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $544.88. 600,741 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 539,434. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $553.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $582.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI Inc. has a 1-year low of $458.69 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The firm had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $746.45 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.