2Xideas AG Purchases 5,625 Shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

2Xideas AG boosted its position in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,557 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares during the period. MSCI accounts for about 1.7% of 2Xideas AG's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. 2Xideas AG's holdings in MSCI were worth $12,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,493,534 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $870,627,000 after buying an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $401,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,645 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,621,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 176.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 9.0% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 31,141 shares of the technology company's stock worth $18,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MSCI from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $646.58.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI traded up $15.36 on Friday, hitting $543.13. 210,205 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 567,570. The business's fifty day moving average is $563.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $586.85. MSCI Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.38, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts expect that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.21%.

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.