Voleon Capital Management LP Takes Position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 706 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

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

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following 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. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $9.51 on Friday, reaching $555.58. 389,901 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 534,797. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $551.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $581.33. The stock has a market cap of $42.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI Inc. has a one year low of $468.43 and a one year high of $642.45.

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

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.