MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Stake Decreased by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP decreased its position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,237 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,841 shares during the quarter. MSCI accounts for about 0.7% of Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned about 0.14% of MSCI worth $67,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $694,000. Man Group plc lifted its stake in MSCI by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 181,033 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $108,622,000 after buying an additional 69,915 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,550,000. NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 3,302 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,981,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSCI. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $645.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value 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 approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents 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

Shares of MSCI traded down $4.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $571.26. The stock had a trading volume of 786,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,639. The firm has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $550.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $579.20. MSCI Inc. has a 12-month low of $475.32 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $745.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

MSCI 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.