BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Makes New $1.93 Million Investment in MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,220 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,932,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in MSCI by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 98 shares of the technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in MSCI by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 113 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 117 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $645.36.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSCI Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MSCI traded up $5.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $535.66. 504,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 549,615. The business's 50-day moving average price is $555.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $584.22. MSCI Inc. has a 1 year low of $458.69 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

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.