Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,655 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in MSCI were worth $16,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSCI. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 712 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 owns 289,787 shares in the company, valued at $160,133,398.33. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $0.23 on Monday, hitting $572.45. 284,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 521,684. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $475.32 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $550.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $579.26.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last released 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.45 million. Equities analysts forecast that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS 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 given 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 (DPR) is 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.